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HOME  OF  THE  INTBMPERA'IE. 


♦ 


FIFTY 

TEAES  HISTOEY 

OF  THE  TEMPEEAHOE  CAUSE. 

INTEMPEEANCE 

THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  CURSE,  THREATENING  THE  PURITY  AND 

. m 

STABILITY  OF  OUR  INSTITUTIONS,  SECULAR  AND  RELIGIOUS; 

THE  .fruitful' SOURCE  OF  POVERTY,  MISERY,  CRIME, 

AND  DEGRADATION  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND 
FAMILY. 

DESCRIBING 

THE  PROCESS  OP  MANUFACTURING  LIQUOR^;  POISONOUS 
INGREDIENTS  USED  IN  ADULTERATION;  OFFICIAL  RE- 
PORTS OP  REVENUE  RECEIPTS  FROM  ITS  SALE. 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

OF  THE  VARIOUS  MEANS  ADOPTED  FOR  ITS  SUPPRESSION  THROUGH 
LEGISLATION,  OPEN  AND  SECRET  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETIES  ; 
WASHINGTONIANS;  GOOD  TEMPLARS;  GOOD  SAMARI- 
TANS ; DAUGHTERS  OF  SAMARIA,  ETC.,  FROM  THE 
FIRST  ORGANIZED  SOCIETY  TO  THE  PRESENT 
TIME. 

CAREFULLY  PREPARED  FROM  THE  MOST  RELIABLE  AND  EMINENT  AUTHORITIES. 

BY  J.  E.  STEBBINS, 

A-UTIIOR  OF  MOSES  AND  THE  PROPHETS,  CHRIST  .VND  THE  APOSTLES,  FATHERS  AND 
martyrs;  glory  of -the  I.HMORTAL  life,  ETC. 

WITH 

A PULL  DESCRIPTION  OP  THE  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OP  THE  NEW  PLAN  OP 
LABOR  BY  THE  WOMEN  UP  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

BY  T.  A.  H.  BEOWN, 

REPORTER  FOR  THE  CINCINNATI  GAZETTE,  WHO  HAS  BEEN  CONSTANTLY  IN 
THE  FIELD. 

ILLUSTE  AT  ED.YoIhCbUa  GENTS,  ONLY. 

HARTFOED: 

PUBLISHED  BY  L.  STEBBIHS. 

CINCINNATI,  OHIO:— HENEY  HOWE. 

M.  A.  PARKER  & CO.,  163  AND  165  CLARK  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1874. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 
L.  STEBBINS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


c 


1 ,'7 . 


PREFACE. 


In  order  to  insure  efBcient  action  in  any  direction,  it  is 
highly  important  there  should  be  a full  understanding  of  all 
those  things  which  have  a practical  bearing  on  the  subject 
in  hand.  In  general,  there  is  a vague  sort  of  recognition 
of  the  claims  of  Temperance  — a thoughtless  assent  to 
their  transcendent  importance  ; and  yet  there  is  a deplora- 
ble apathy  and  indifference  among  the  mass  of  the  people 
with  reference  to  the  whole  matter.  With  a want  of  con- 
sideration, and  perhaps  a want  of  knowledge,  they  are^  in 
great  measure,  ignorant  of  the  gigantic  proportions  intem- 
perance is  assuming  in  the  land,  and  the  impending  danger, 
in  consequence,  to  all  the  dearest  and  best  interests  of  hu- 
mankind. They  are  not  aware  of  the  startling  facts,  which 
are  as  so  many  revelations  of- the  power  and  extent  of  a 
mighty  evil  that  is  working  ruin  in  society,  and  impoverish- 
ing and  degrading,  not  only  individuals  and  families,  but 
even  the  nation  itself.  They  do  not  know  how  long  is  the 
procession  that  is  marching  on  under  the  black  banner  of  a 
most  determined  foe,  nor  of  the  blight  and  desolation  the 
enemy  is  spreading  in  its . course.  They  are  but  slightly 
moved  by  the  stirring  appeals  that  are  now  and  then  made 
to  them  by  a passing  lecturer,  for  they  have  no  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  broad,  urgent,  and  pressing  need  for 
action.  To  meet  this  condition  of  the  common  people,  is 
the  design  of  the  present  volume,  and  in  its,  preparation 
access  has  been  had  to  the  best  and  most  reliable  author- 
ities of  this  country  and  of  Europe. 

It  aims  to  gi%m  a faithful  representation  of  the  drinking 
system,  in  its  every  aspect.  It  shows  what  it  does  and  must 
inevitably  do  in  the  case  of  any  person  who  allows  himself 


3 


4 


PREFACE. 


to  come  under  the  influence  ^of  it,  in  any  degree.  It  gives 
a record  of  the  alarming  results  that  attend  it,  and  pictures 
the  fearful  end  of  the  tippler  — darkly  shaded,  indeed,  but 
true,  as  too  many  can  testify.  The  story  needs  to  be  told ; 
told  until  the  people  — as  the  heart  of  one  man  — shall  awake 
to  the  tremendous  issues,  and  be  moved  to  take  part  in  the 
stern  conflict  ; told  until  the  eyes  and  ears  of  aU  mankind 
shall  be  open  to  see  and  hear  the  sights  and  sounds  that  are 
associated  with  this  phase  of  public  and  private  life  ; told 
until  it  shall  reach  the  remotest  hamlets,  and  inspire  with 
courage  and  earnestness  that  shall  be  as  a universallj’'  pop- 
ular sentiment  to  resist  the  assaults  of  a dreaded  invader. 
Temperance  or  Intemperance  is  the  question.  Shall  the 
benignant  reign  of  the  one  give  us  peace  and  prosper- 
ity,' or  the  wasting  desolation  of  the  other  be  our  grief 
and  our  cui'se  ? The  answer  belongs  to  the  people. 
Then,  let  none  turn  away  from  these  candid  and  impartial 
statements.  Let  no  prejudice  deter  an}"  one  from  a delib- 
erate survey  of  the  important  work.  ' Lot  no  one  shut  his 
heart  against  the  conviction  these  truths  are  calculated  to 
awaken.  It  is  a vital  subject.  It  touches  man’s  interest 
at  every  point.  It  appeals  to  every  attribute  of  his  na- 
ture, his  affection,  his  honor,  his  ambition,  his  dignity,  and 
as  he  regards  his  salvation,  in  all  these  and  more,  he  should 
take  heed  to  the  call. 

For  such  an  end  as  this  we  would  send  this  volume  into 
eveiy  family.  We  would  introduce  it  into  every  home,  and 
say  to  its  inmates  — it  was  meant  for  j’our  highest  weal  ; 
take  and  read  it.  Let  fathers  and  mothers  give  it  to  their 
sons  as  they  go  out  into  the  world,  and  bid  them  ponder 
and  practise  ; so  shall  it  be  to  them  as  a shield  in  the  time 
of  temptation,  and  fortify  them  in  the  hour  of  danger  ; and 
thus  there  shall  be  a good  beginning  in  the  work  of  reform, 
that  shall  gladden  the  homes  and  hearts  that  are  to  add  to 
the  stability  and  glory  of  the  American  Eepublic. 

J.  E.  STEBBtNS. 


I<i^t  of 


Home  of  the  Temperate, 

Home  of  the  Intemperate, 

Drinking  Punch  and  Flip, 

Drinking  Cider,  - - . 

Wine  at  Dinner,  . . . 

The  Club  Room,  - - - 

Billiard  Saloon,  . . . 

Respectable  Bar,  - - - 

The  Groggery,  - - - . 

Alms  House  and  Potters-field,  ' - 
Young  Lady  Offering  Her  Lover  Wine, 
The  Result,  ... 

German  Beer  garden,  - - - 

Wine  at  Twenty-one, 

Whisky  and  Brandy  at  Twenty-eight, 
AU  Kinds  at  Thirty-five, 

Healthful,  . . _ - 

Moderate  Drinking, 

Drunkards,  . . - - 

Ulcerous,  - ’ - 


Pase. 

Fronti^ieee. 

Frontispiece. 

- 33 
33 

- 63 
63 

- 63 
63 

- 63 
63 

- 75 
75 

- 97 
108 

- 108 
108 

- 108 
108 
- 108 
108 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Delirium  Tremens,  - . . . _ 

Delirium  Tremens,  - - • . . _ . . _ 

The  Five  Points, 

A New  Tork  Dancing  Saloon,  . - . . . ^35 

Signing  the  Pledge,  - - . . . . . 

Police  Court,  - . . . . . -176 

Washingtonians,  234 

John  B.  Gough,  - - - - . . 399 

Dio  Lewis,  - 399 

Dr.  O.  P.  Jewett,  399 

Mrs.  Runyan,  399 

Mother  Stewart,  399 

First  Call,  or  Laying  Siege  to  Van  Pelt’s  Saloon,  - . . 345 

Van  Pelf  Surrenders,  - - - - . -351 

Saloon  Keeper  Surrenders  and  Signs  the  Pledge,  - - - 421 

Singing  Outside  the  Saloon,  .....  443 


TABLE  OF  COl^TE^^TS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Inteivepeeance  — THE  Natioh’s  Cuese. 

OTJR  FAIR  HERITAGE. THE  CURSE  UPON  IT.  — NATURE  ANB  EXTENT. 

. — UNITED  STATES  TAX, — CAPITAL  INVESTED. FIRST  DISTILLATION. 

— DRINKING  IN  HIGH  PLACES.  — ORDINATION  BILLS.  — FIRST  SOCIE-  • 
TIES.  — TOTAL  ABSTINENCE,  — THE  CRISIS Page  17 


CHAPTER  .II. 

Physiological  View  oe  Ihtempeeahce. 

AFFINITY  OF  NATURAL  AND  MORAL.  — DEFACES  THE  HUMAN  FORM.  — 
THE  doctor’s  EXPERIMENT.  — A PHILOSOPHER’S  APHORISMS, ALCO- 

HOL NO  PROTECTION  AGAINST  COLD.  — ASSERTION  OP  AN  ENGLISH 
SAILOR.  — STATEMENT  OF  PROFESSOR  SILLIMAN.  — DR.  JEWETT’s  TES- 
TIMONY AS  A MEDICINE ‘ 33 


CHAPTER  III. 

Intemperance  as  related  to  Heart  and  Intellect. 

RELATION  OF  MIND  AND  BODY.  — KINGLY  POWER  OP  INTELLECT.  — 
DOOM  OF  TALENTED  MEN.  — QUEEN  CITY  STATESMEN.  — THE  WAN- 
DERING BEGGAR. — POWELL’s  OPINION. — EPICURUS. — HUGH  MILLEr’s 
TESTIMONY.  — THE  MORAL  NATURE.  — EFFECTS  OP  MORAL  BLIGHT.  43 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Social  and  Religions  Outlook. 

NO  PAET  or  BEING  UNTOUCHED.  — HOME,  THE  HEART  OF  THE  SOCIAL 
WORLD*. — THE  YOUNG  MAN. — CASE  IN  WESTERN  NEW  YORK. — POT- 
BBTY  NOT  THE  GREATEST  CUESE.  — LOSS  TO  SOCIETY.  — BLIGHT 
UPON  THOSE  FACULTIES  WHICH  BUILD  UP  RELIGIOUS  CHARACTER.  62 

5 


6 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


CHARTER  V. 

Origin  of  the  Evil. 

MODERATE  DRINKING. — EFFECT  OF  A SINGLE  GLASS.  — SUPPOSITION  OF 
ITS  LIFE-LONG  INFLUENCE.  — MODERATION  INVOLVES  THE  GREATER 

DANGER.  THE  MEETING.  — THE  PAUPER’S  STORY^  — LITTLE  BY 

LITTLE - 02 

• 

CHAPTER  VI. 

What  is  the  Stlmhlant? 

CLEOPATRA.  — THE  FIRST  STEP.  SOCIAL  PARTY. NEW  Y'EAR’s  CUS- 

TOM.— THE  CREEK  INDIAN.  — ANECDOTE  OF  HENRY  WILSON.  — CHEM- 
ICAL TESTS.  — PORT  AND  MADEIRA,  SO  CALLED.  WINE  DEALER’S 

CONFESSION. PROF.  BUTLER’s  TESTIMONY, HORACE  GREELEY’S. — 

VOICE  FROM  PERSIA. — DR.  HOLLAND.  — CALIFORNIAN  IDEAS.  — BIBLE 
STAND-POINT 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Ale  and  Beer. 

MANKIND  SEEK  SELF-GRATIFICATION.  — WILL  BEER  INTOXICATE.  — 
“LOST  OR  STOLEN.”  — .BEER  OF  GERMAN  ORIGIN.  — THE  BEER-LOV- 
ING NEIGHBOR.  — “ THE  LITTLE  THING.”  — BEER  BILL  IN  ENGLAND.  — 
DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON.  — FRUIT  OF  INDULGENCE.  — BEER-BREWERS* 
CONVICTION 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Rum  ahd  Brahdy. 

STEPPING  DOWNWAED.  TEMPEEANCE  PILLAES  DISEEGAEDED.  VriFE’S 

METHOD  OF  EEFOEM.  THREE  STAGES  OF  DKINK.  — ALCOHOLIC  DE- 
RANGEMENT OF  THE  STOMACH OF  THE  BLOOD.  THE  INEBRIATE’S 

CONFESSION.  THE  PHYSICIAN’S  STORY. RICH  AND  POOR  ALIKE 

FALL.  — WILKES  BOOTH.  CASE  OP  DELIRIUM  TREMENS.  — THE  MAN 

WHO  THOUGHT  HIMSELF  SAFE.  — THE  MANIAC’S  SHRIEK.  . . . 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Where  is  it  foltsu? 

ALCOHOLIC  MISERY  CANNOT  BE  PAINTED.  — LOVE  OF  GaTN  THE  PRO- 
PELLING MOTIVE.  LORD  CHESTERFIELD’S  REMARK.  RUM  SELLER  S 

TREATMENT  OF  AN  OLD  MAN.  — THE  COUNTRY’  TAVERN. — HOMES  AND 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


7 


HAUNTS  OF  THE  DRUNKARD.  — FITE  POINTS.  — GROCERS’  NETS.  

FREE  LUNCH  HOUSES.  — FIRST-CLASS  HOTELS.  — CLUB-ROOMS.  — EU- 
ROPEAN AND  MODERN  STYLE.  — POWER  OF  EXAMPLE 120 


C H A P T E R X . 

Pbobabilitt  of  Reform. 

HOPE  A DIM  STAR.  — THE  YOUNG  LADY’S  VICTIM.  — INDIVIDUAL  RIC - 
FORM.  — GOUGH.  — J.  HAWKINS*  — CONFESSION  OF  A CONDEMNED 
CRIMINAL.  — FATHER  OF  THE  REV.  NEWMAN  HALL.  — HOPELESSNESS 
OF  THE  WORK.  — CONFESSION  OF  CHARLES  LAMB.  — SALVATION  NOT 
IN  RECLAIMING  THE  DRUNKARD,  BUT  IN  SAVING  YOUTH  FROM  BE- 
GINNING  141 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Blighting  Effects  upon. Society.  * 

CELESTIAL  INQUIRER.  — CLAIMS  OF  THE  LIQUOR  FIEND.  — INTEMPER- 
ANCE PRODUCES  POVERTY.  — INCIDENT  WITH  A BOSTON  LECTURER. 

FRUITFUL  SOURCE  OF  PAUPERISM.  — THE  “SOCIAL  EVIL  ” STIMU- 
LATES THE  MURDEROUS  PROPENSITY.  — PROMPTS  TO  SUICIDE.  

OPPOSES  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  — INDUCES  PROFANITY.  — THE  EN- 
EMY OP  THE  MISSIONARY.  — THE  ‘ INDIAN'S  PROTEST.  — APPEAL  TO 
THE  CHURCH .‘ 167 

CHAPTER  XII. 

National  Loss. 

THEORY  OF  SOUND. — WHAT  CONSTITUTES  NATIONAL  LIFE.  — “BANK 
FOR  LOSINGS.” — PRODUCTIVE  LABOR  OF  THE  NATION  LESSENED  BY 

A DRINKING  HABIT.  — MOTIVES  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY. THE  GRAIN- 

DESTROYING  CURSE.  — OBSTRUCTS  TRADE  AND  COMMERCE. IMPAIRS 

THE  ARMY  AND  NAVY. CURTAILS  THE  POWER  OF  LITERARY  INSTI- 
TUTIONS.— AN  IMAGINARY  PICTURE. 183 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

What  is  the  RbmeHy? 

NO  “happy  valley”  BUT  IN  FANCY.  — MORAL  SUASION.  — SIGNING 
THE  PLEDGE.  — SELF-RESPECT  NEVER  REGAINED.  — GOUGH’s  CON- 
FESSION.— TOTAL*  ABSTINENCE  THE  ONLY  TRUE  REMEDY.  — THE 
COURT  CLERK. — TESTIMONY  OF  AN  ENGLISH  GENTLEMAN.  — ANEC- 


8 


TABLE  OE  CONTENTS, 


DOTE  OF  FAERAGUT.  — BTBLE  PRINCIPLES.  — HOMES  FOE  INEBRI- 
ATES.   VIEWS  OF  MR.  POMEROY.  FROM  THE  PATIENT’S  STAND- 
POINT. — chaplain’s  STATEMENT.  — LAW  INTERFERENCE.  . . . 195 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Temper ANCE  Wobkees. 

GREAT  PRINCIPLES  IMMORTAL.  — DR.  BACON  ON  SLOW  IDEAS. — THE 
FIRST  PLEDGE. — THE  EARLY  AGITATION.  — DR.  JUSTIN  EDWARDS.  — 

THE  FEARLESS  PREACHER. HON.  THEODORE  FRELINGHUYSEN. DR. 

JEWETT.  — REV.  THOMAS  P.  HUNT.  — REV.  JOHN  PIERPONT.  — JUDGE 
CROSBY.  — “ THE  NOTT  CONTROVERSY.”  — FATHER  MATHEW.  — FA- 
THER TAYLOR.  — WASHINGTONIANS.  — JOHN  B^^GDDGH 217 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Temperance  Societies. 

UNITED  ACTION,  FIRST  NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE  CONVENTION.  — VIEW 
OF  DR.  HITCHCOCK.  — MEETING  AT  FANEDIL  HALL.  — REV.  JOHN 
MARSH.  — world’s  TEMPERANCE  CONVENTION  AT  LONDON.  — TEM- 
PERANCE AND  LIFE  INSURANCE.  — SONS  OF  TEMPERANCE.  — GOOD 

TEMPLARS.  — THEIR  ORIGIN. FATHER  BRISTOL.  — TEMPLARS  OF 

HONOR  AND  TEMPERANCE.  — EXTRACT  FROM  TEMPLARS*  MANUAL.  — 
RECHABITES.  — GOOD  SAMARITANS.  — IS  TEMPERANCE  A FAILURE  ? 237 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Adulteeation  of  Liquoks.' 

FASHION  AND  PURITY. — THE  COLORADO  SALOON  KEEPER. — FOURCROT, 
THE  FRENCH  CHEMIST.  — PROFESSOR  LEE's  STATEMENT.  — ASSER- 
TION OF  DR.  STORY.  — STRYCHNINE.  — STRAMONIUM.  — THE  DEAD 
FISHERMEN.  — THE  IRISH  TOPERS.  — COCCULDS.  — CONFISCATION  AT 
BOSTON.  — ANALYTICAL  OBSERVATIONS  OF  DR.  COX.  — PURCHASE  OF 
NEW  YORK  PHYSICIANS.  — “ GUIDE  ” RECEIPTS.  — THE  DRUGGIST’S 
BRANDY.  — RUM.  — GIN.  — BEER 258 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

License  and  Pkohibition. 


GOOD  AND  EVIL  AT  WAR  WITH  EACH  OTHER.  — THE  TWO  LEADING  PRIN- 
CIPLES.   FOR  WHAT  DO  WE  GRANT  LICElfSEi’ MINER  BEFORE  THE 

MASSACHUSETTS  LEGISLATURE.  — A HUNDRED  DIFFERENT  LAWS.  — 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


9 


DECI/ARATION  OP  DR.  HUMPHREY.  — CONSTABLE’S  REPORT.  — STATE 

BOARD  OP  CHARITIES.  WHAT  ALBERT  BARNES  SAYS.  PROHIBITION 

THE  ONLY  THING.  — PROTECTIVE  POWER.  — ENGLAND’S  P(JsiTION.  — 

NEAL  DOW  FATHER  OF  PROHIBITION. — TESTIMONY  AS  TO  RESULTS. 

CALL  TO  ACTION 274 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Legislative  Action. 

TREE  OP  LIBERTY.  — ANCIENT  EMPIRES. — SUPPRESSION.  — ORIGIN  OP 
THE  MAINE  LAW.  — MASSACHUSETTS  LEGISLATION.  — CONNECTICUT 
AND  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  — NEW  YORK.  — SPEECH  OF  HENRY  WARD 
BEECHER.  — OPPOSITION  AT  TAMMANY  HALL.  — LOCAL  OPTION.  — 
CIVIL  DAMAGE.  — MEMORIAL  TO  CONGRESS.  — THE  PLEADER’s  WORDS. 
— THE  GREAT  TEMPERANCE  MOVEMENT.  288 


% 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


11 


WOMEN’S  TEMPERANCE  CRUSADE, 


INTRODUCTION.  By  Dio  Lewis. 

EARLY  IMPRESSED  WITH  THE  POWER  OP  PRAYER.  — THREE  HUNDRED 
AND  FORTY  LECTURES  ON  THE  feUBJECT.  — THE  FIRST  INSTANCES 
WHERE  THIS  POWER  WAS  TRIED  UPON  GROG  SHOPS. — DIXON,  ILL.4 
AND  BATTLH  CREEK,  MICH.,  DRIVE  OUT  ‘ THE  DRAM  SELLERS.  — 
HOW  THE  MOVEMENT  WAS  SMOTHERED  IN  MANCHESTER,  N.  H.  — 
THE  MOVEMENT  ANALYZED.  — A PRAYER  MEETING  FROM  BEGINNING 
TO  END.  — DIFFERENCE  IN  PRAYERS.  — THE  PLAN  WHICH  LARGE 
CITIES  SHOULD  ADOPT 341 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  WOMAN'S  MOVEMENT. — THE  NEW  LAW  FOR  THE  SUP- 
PRESSION OP  INTEMPERANCE.  — DIO  LEWIs’s  PLAN  AT  HILLSBORO’. — 
WASHINGTON  COURT  HOUSE  THE  NEXT  PLACE.  — HOW  SLATER  WAS 
SQUELCHED.  — THE  FIRST  TABERNACLE.  — SIEGE  OF  CHARLIE  BECK, 

ETC.  351 


CHAPTER  XX* 

MARVELLOUS  SPREAD  OP  THE  MOVEMENT.  — SUDDEN  REDEMPTION  OF 
WILMINGTON.  — THE  EPIDEMIC  IN  GREENFIELD.  — THE  FAMOUS  SIEGE 
OF  VAN  PELT  AT  NEW  VIENNA. — HIS  WICKEDNESS  AND  HIS  SURREN- 
DER.— THE  GLOOMY  HISTORY  OF  MORROW  A GOOD  TEMPERANCE 

tract. ABOUT  SELLING  CORN  TO  DISTILLERS. — A WAYNESVILLE 

PRAYER  MEETING  REPRODUCED.  — A FORTY-NINE  DAYS*  SIEGE  AT 

CORWIN 371 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  LEGAL  CASES.  WERE  THE  WOMEN  TRESPASSERS  ON 
PRIVATE  RIGHTS  ? — THE  CELEBRATED  DUNN  SUIT.  — THE  WARNING, 
THE  TABERNACLE,  AND  THE  INJUNCTION.  — OTHER  FUTILE  EFFORTS 
TO  ENJOIN  THE  WOMEN.  — THE  SCHEIDE  INJUNCTION,  AND  HOW  IT 
WAS  DISSOLVED.  — LEGAL  PROSECUTIONS  AT  LEBANON. — A COMPARI- 
SON OF  THE  LAW  AND  GOSPEL  METHODS 393 


12 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A CHAPTER  OP  TEMPERANCE  LAWS.  — THE  CELEBRATED  ADAIR  AND 
BAXTER  LAWS.  OTHER  MUNICIPAL  AND  STATE  LEGISLATION.  — THE 
“ MCCONNELSVILLE  ORDINANCE.”  — HOW  FAR  THE  LAWS  HAVE 
FAILED  IN  EXECUTION,  AND  THE  REASONS  THEREFOR.  — LITIGATION 
UNDER  THE  ADAIR  LAW- — DAMAGES  SELDOM  RECOVERED  IN  THE 
CITIES,  BUT  OFTEN  IN  THE  COUNTRY  DISTRICTS 410 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE  TRIUMPHAL  MARCH  OF  DIO  LEWIS.  — THE  MAN  AND  HIS  OPINIONS.  — 
THE  XENIA  MASS  MEETING.  — INAUGURATION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  SPRING- 
FIELD,  LEBANON,  MOUNT  VERNON,  ETC.  — MOTHER  STEWART,  THE 
SPRINGFIELD  LEADER. — INTERVIEWS  WITH  SALOON  KEEPERS.  — WHY 
THE  MASS  MEETING  AT  COLUMBUS  FAILED.  — THANKSGIVING  JUBILEE 
AT  WASHINGTON  COURTHOUSE. — THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  XENIA, 
MOUNT  VERNON,  ETC. — REMARKABLE  SURRENDER  OF  THE  SHADES  OF 

DEATH 425 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  MOVEMENT  SPREADS  TO  INDIANA. — SHELBYVILLE  THE  FIRST  POINT 

ASSAILED. A JUVENILE  SPREE  THE  33IMEDIATE  CAUSE.  — THE  HOME 

OF  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  BAXTER  LAW. — NOBLE  WORK  OF  THE  QUA- 
KER LADIES.  OF  RICHMOND.  — SUDDEN  UPRISING  IN  FORT  WAYNE.  — 
HOW  THE  INDIANAPOLIS  WOMEN  DIRECTED  THEIR  ENERGIES.  — PRAYER 
AND  THE  BAXTER  LAW  JOIN  HANDS 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  woman’s  movement  in  the  large  cities.  — different  condi- 
tions IN  CITY  AND  CODNTRY.  — THE  EXPERIMENT  FIRST  TRIED  IN 
DAYTON.  HEROISM  OF  THE  PRAYING  BANDS,  AND  INSULTING  CON- 
DUCT OF  THE  MOB.  EXCITE.MENT  PRODUCED  BY  THE  CAMPAIGN  iN 

COLUMBUS.  DISCOURAGEMENTS  FROM  EVERY  QUARTER.  PRAYER 

MEETING  IN  THE  CAPITOL.  — HOYV  THE  MUNICIPAL  CODE  WAS  SAVED 

INTACT.  THE  CRUSADE  IN  CLEVELAND.  — CINCINNATI  A FORMIDABLE 

POINT.  THE  THREE  STAGES  OP  THE  MOVEYIENT  THERE.  INTENSE 

OPPOSITION  OF  THE  LIQUOR  SELLERS  AND  GERMANS.  — THE  CHURCHES 
PUT  TO  GOOD  USE.  PROCLAMATION  Oi*  THE  MAYOR,  ETC.  . . . 461 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

the  movement  in  THE  EAST.  — ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST.  — IN  THE 
SOOTH  AND  WEST.  — WORCESTER  THE  TRIAL  POINT  IN  NEW  ENG- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 


13 


LAND.  — THE  WESTERN  PLAN  DISCARDED.  — THE  INTEREST  IN  NEW 
TORK  CITY.  — INFLUENCE  OP  TRE  CRUSADE  FELT  IN  CONGRESS.  — 
DESCENT  UPON  THE  MARYLAND 'LEGISLATURE.  — GREAT  RESULTS  IN 
PHILADELPHIA. — DISGRACEFUL  SCENE  IN  CHICAGO. — IN  GENERAL.  486 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

LICENSE  VS.  PROHIBITION.  — THE  PROHIBITIONISTS  TRY  TO  CAPTURE 
THE  woman’s  MOVEMENT.  — LICENSE  VIGOROUSLY  OPPOSED  BY  THE 
LADIES.  — THE  EIRST  GRAND  CONVENTION  IN  COLUMBUS.  — PROHI- 
BITION STATE  CONVENTION  AT  MT.  VERNON.  — SECOND  WOMAN’S  CON- 
VENTION.— MASS  MEETING  IN  CINCINNATI  FOR  AND  AGAINST  LICENSE. 
— GRAND  woman’s  ANTI-LICENSE  CONVENTION  IN  CINCINNATI.  . , 497 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  WOMAN’S  MOVEMENT.  — 
BITTER  ARTICLES  AND  ABSURD  STORIES  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  GERMAN 
PAPERS.  — A SPECIMEN  OF  BEER  DRINKERS’  RESOLUTIONS.  — ATTI- 
TUDE OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  — ARCHBISHOP  PURCELL’s  LETTER, — A 
MANSFIELD  PRIEST’S  ANATHEMA.  — DR.  J.  G.  HOLLAND  IN  OPPOSI- 
TION, ETC.,  ETC 511 


Jfi 


CHAPTER  I. 

Intemperance — the  Nation’s  Cuese. 

OUR  FAIR  HERITAGE.  — THE  CUESE  UPON  IT.  — NATURE  AND  EXTENT. 

— UNITED  STATES  TAX.  — CAPITAL  INVESTED.  — FIRST  DISTILLATION. 

— DRINKING  IN  HIGH  PLACES. — ORDINATION  BILLS. — FIRST  SOCIE- 
TIES.— TOTAL  ABSTINENCE.  — THE  CRISIS. 

A EAIEEE  heritage  is  not  to  be  desired  than  that 
which  is  given  to  the  dweller  upon  American  soil. 
Whether  we  look  at  the  munificence  of  nature,  or  that 
which  hath  been  wrought  out  by  the  agency  of  men  in 
their  onward  march  to  civilization,  we  are  compelled  to 
say  that  ours  is  a goodly  land. 

From  the  forest-crowned  hills  of  New  England’s  re- 
motest corner  to  the  sunniest  slopes  on  the  Pacific  shore,, 
there  are  countless  forms  of  beauty  and  grandeur  to. 
challenge  admiration,  besides  an  equal  display  of  those 
things  which  develop  into  the  more  substantial  utilities, 
of  life ; making  the  country  what  it  is  — rich  and  pros- 
perous. The  enthusiast  in  every  direction  may  find  in 
the  rock-ribbed  hills,  the  winding  streams,  the  smiling 
meadows  and  broad  prairies,  the  wild  and  picturesque 
valleys,  the  snow-clad  mountains  and  the  stretch  of 
2 


18 


mTEMPEEAJsXE, 


ocean,  that  which  will  meet  his  every  want,  foster  his 
wildest  ambition.  The  adventurer  pushes  on  to  new 
and  unexplored  regions,  and  at  every  step  opens  up  new 
wonders  to  the  gaze  of  the  world. 

The  speculator,  in  his  search  for  more  of  treasure, 
turns  over  the  stones  which  hide  the  golden  dust  and  the 
shining  metals,  and  he  finds  that  Nature  opens  her  veins 
and  rewards  him  with  a lavish  hand.  They  who  would 
look  above  these  material  considerations,  and  desire  the 
elevation  of  mankind  in  a higher  sense,  find  their  Avishes 
met  and  their  hopes  strengthened  in  the  universal  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge,  the  number  and  variety  of  the  insti- 
tutions which  have  for  their  object  the  accomplishment 
of  these  very  ends. 

The  social,  political,  and  religious  advantages  which 
are  denied  to  so  many  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,-  are 
open  to  the  mass  of  the  people ; and  altogether,  we  are 
constrained  to  say,  it  is  a goodly  heritage.  IVith  these 
God-given  conditions,  that  were  designed  to  make  man- 
kind happier  and  better,  we  yet  fail  to  come  up  to  the 
requisite  standard  of  goodness  and  vu’tue.  The  original 
paradise,  we  know,  was  dismantled  by  the  fall,  and  since 
then  there  is  no  portion  of  the  world  without  its  dark 
feature.s  ; but  enough  was  preserved  from  tho  wreck  and 
ruin  to  remain  as  a rich  legacy,  had  it  been  cherished 
and  kept  as  it  should  be.  No  one  can  look  abroad  at 
the  present  time,  and  not  be  painfully  conscious  that 
there  is  a fearful  curse  upon  us  — that  there  is  a blight- 
ing infiuence  at  work  — a canker  eating  into  the  A'ery 
heart  of  society,  and  sapping  the  foundations  of  our 
dearest  and  best  institutions.  This  gigantic  eA’il,  this 
'Cruel  monster,  is  Intemperance  ; and  its  frightfully  in- 
creasing power  and  prevalence  are  enough  to  startle  a 
world  from  its  lethargy  and  indifference,  and  incite  to 
active  measures  for  the  suppression  of  that  which  is  be- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


19 


coming  a terrible  and  wide-spread  devastation.  Were  a 
foreign  foe  to  invade  our  country,  and  arrogate  to  them- 
selves superior  power  by  dictating  laws  in  opposition  to 
those  of  our  own  beneficent  government,  with  what 
earnest  and  decisive  measures  would  they  be  met ! How 
strongly  would  the  spirit  be  rebuked ! N o means  would 
be  left  untried  to  quell  the  disturbing  forces.  No  sacri- 
fice would  be  counted  too  dear  to  win  the  result,  and 
restore  harmony,  by  sending  back  the  threatening  in- 
vaders, and  looking  well  to  internal  fortresses.  But 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  wiliest  and  most  deter- 
mined external  foe  Is  this  modern  Giant  of  Inteffiperance 
that  is  stalking  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
land,  leaving  misery,  poverty,  crime,  and  every  species 
of  ruin  in  its  path.  The  rebellious  hordes  may  attempt 
invasion  and  raise  their  own  issues,  and  all  this  will  be 
met,  for  at  the  clarion  call  of  the  country  thousands  will 
rush  to  the  scene  of  conflict,  armed,  equipped,  and 
nerved  for  a mighty  onset ; but  the  stronger  and  more 
seductive  influences  that  are  unceasingly  at  work,  prey- 
ing upon  the  vital  interests  of  the  nation,  are  left  com- 
paratively unchecked,  and  altogether  without  means 
commensurate  with  the  necessities  of  the  case.  A want 
of  consideration,  it  may  be,  is  one  prominent  reason  for 
the  neglect.  Many  perhaps  deplore  it  as  it  comes  witlfin 
their  own  narrow  range  of  observation,  perhaps  within 
the  circle  of  tlieir  acquaintance  ; but  a thoughtful,  in- 
telligent, broad  view  reveals  the  fact  of  a nation  in  peril 
— a nation  in  so  much  danger  that  it  calls  for  the  wisest 
and  most  careful  legislation,  that,  if  possible,  the  immi- 
nent and  threatened  evil  may  be  averted,  and  the  cloud 
lifted  that  encircles  us  with  so  much  of  gloom. 

Sad  as  the  contemplation  of  these  things  may  be,  it  is 
nevertheless  a duty  of  every  lover  of  his  race,  every 
citizen  who  is  interested  in  maintaining  a fair  and  pros- 


20 


INTEiyiPEKANCE, 


perous  condition  of  things  in  the  countrj^  to  look  the 
startling  and  alarming  facts  in  the  face,  that  they  may 
he  prepared  for  intelligent  co-operation  in  the  great  work 
that  needs  to  be  done.  To  say  nothing  of  the  countless 
forms  of  wretchedness  that  is  induced  l^y  the  Demon  of 
Drink,  it  is  like  a desolating  scourge,  that  is  impoverish- 
ing our  land,  robbing  its  inhabitants  of  everything  that 
should  be  their  glory  and  their  pride.  Estimates  made 
with  regard  to  the  consumption  of  spirituous  liquors  are 
perfectly  appalling.  It  has  been  said  by  one  interested 
in  these  calculations  that  “ there  is  a sufficient  quantity 
of  fermented  and  distilled  liquor  used  in  the  United 
States,  in  one  year,  to  fill  a canal  four  feet  deep,  fourteen 
feet  wide,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length.” 
“ The  liquor  saloons  and  hotels  of  JSTew  York  city”  alone, 
he  says,  “ if  placed  in  opposite  rows,  would  make  a 
street  like  Broadway  eleven  miles  in  length.”  The 
statement  is  intensified  in  the  assertion  that  “ the  places 
where  intoxicating  drinks  are  made  and  sold  in  this 
country,  if  placed  in  rows  in  direct  lines,  would  make  a 
street  one  hundred  miles  in  length.  If  the  victims  of 
the  rum  traffic  were  there  also,  we  should  see  a suicide 
at  every  mile,  and  a thousand  funerals  a day.”  Could 
“the  drunkards  of  America,”  he  continues,  “be  placed 
in  procession  five  abreast,  they  would  make  an  army 
one  hundred  miles  in  length.”  And  all  this  vast  com- 
pany, under  the  influence  of  that  which  is  nothing' less 
than  soul-destroying  fire,  are  continually  adding  to  the 
long  catalogue  of  crimes  which  unrestrained  human  pas- 
sion is  capable  of  committing ; and  thus  it  is  that  our 
public  records  are  stained  with  the  recital  of  the  most 
atrocious  and  daring  deeds  of  cruelty  that  fiendish  mabce 
can  perpetrate.  They  carry  the  flaming  torch  of  the 
incendiary  in  one  hand,  and  the  knife  of  the  murderous 
assassin  in  the  other ; and  the  fire  and  the  bloodshed 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


21 


create  a momentary  sensation,  and  it  lias  gone.  Theo- 
retically, public  sentiment  is  against  all  this.  It  deplores 
the  existence  of  so  tremendous  an  evil ; but  practically 
the  great  part  of  the  people  have  been  soothing  them- 
selves to  sleep  when  they  ought  to  have  been  awake 
and  in  earnest  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  the  age  in 
this  direction. 

A long,  sad  wail  comes  up  from  desolated  homes, 
broken  hearts,  crushed  hopes,  and  squandered  fortunes, 
all  over  the  land ; and  with  it  there  is  borne  on  the 
breeze  the  despairing  cry,  “Is  there  no  help  for  us?” 
To-day  there  seems  a disposition  to  heed  the  cry,  and 
haste  to  the  rescue ; and  thrice  happy  will  be  the  day 
wdien  these  efforts  shall  be  crowned  with  success.  It  is 
no  trifling  issue.  It  is  not  the  work  of  any  limited 
period  of  time,  but  an  unceasing  and  persistent  warfare 
waged  against  it  will  eventually  do  much  towards  sub- 
duing it.  Philanthropists  and  good  men  need  to  be  on 
the  alert.  Evil  and  selfish  principles  are  active  under 
the  dominion  of  the  enemy. 

The  investment  of  capital  and  the  enlistment  of  en- 
ergy in  these  departments  are  strikingly  at  variance  with 
the  enginery  for  good.  In  the  single  State  of  New  York, 
where  there  are  over  seven  thousand  churches,  there  are 
over  twenty-one  thousand  licensed  dram-shops.  There 
are  no  computations  for  the  practical  sorrows  which  flow 
out  of  this  extended  traffic.  The  sighs  and  tears,  the 
groans,  miseries,  and  woes,  cannot  be  told  ; yet  statistics 
enable  one  to  form  some  idea  of  what  these  may  be, 
when  it  is  considered  what  the  nature  of  the  cause  is 
which  produces  the  effect.  The  amount  of  tax  collected 
by  the  United  States  on  spirits  for  a single  year  of  re- 
cent date,  with  the  amount  in  quantity  which  it  repre- 
sented, aggregated  a money  interest  of  over  -1400,000,000. 
The  corresponding  tax  upon  beer  for  the  same  time,  with 


22 


IKTESIPEEAXCE, 


the  same  representation,  showed  a money  value  of 
$300,000,000  more.  Added  to  this  Avas  the  interest  of 
the  wine  trade,  of  about  $75,000,000.  This,  together 
with  the  import  trade  of  liquors,  beer,  and  wine,  pre- 
sented a total  of  nearly  $165,000,000.  This  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  vast  amount  of  capital  im'ested  in  the 
requisite  buildings  and  machinery  to  carry  on  the  stu- 
pendous work,  nor  with  the  expense  invoh^ed  in  the 
various  demands  in  the  prosecution  of  the  .trade.  This 
swells  the  figures  far  beyond  those  we  haA^e  gAen.  Xor 
does  the  cost  stop  here.  Back  of  all  this  is  a story  of 
loss  which  no  money  can  supply.  It  has  been  said,  if 
one  were  to  take  a final  -count  of  even  this  sum,  at 
twenty  thousand  dollars  a day,  it  would  take  more  than 
an  ordinary  lifetime  to  complete  the  task ; that,  if  it 
were  in  gold,  and  loaded  in  Avmgons,  it  would  fill  more 
than  a thousand  wagons  of  a ton  each,  and,  if  in  sih'er, 
it  would  require  more  than  fourteen  thousand,  while  the 
procession  would  extend  over  seventy -five  miles  ; and 
all  this  would  be  but  the  representation  of  a single  year 
of  the  terrible  traffic. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  those  so  confirmed  in  the 
habit  of  intemperance  as  to  bear  the  name  of  drunkard, 
as  to  make  an  army  of  600,000  in  the  United  States  ; 
60,000  of  these  aniiually  pass  out  of  sight,  filling  dis- 
honored graves,  “ unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung,” 
because  every  trace  of  their  manhood  had  been  obliter- 
ated, and  every  promising  hope  blasted,  by  their  mad 
career.  NotAvithstanding  this  lamentable  fact,  the  places 
they  knew  are  filled  by  others ; and  the  unbroken  ranks 
pursue  their  march,  to  re-enact  the  same  fearful  trage- 
• dies,  and  reach  the  same  untimely  end.  Those  who 
pander  to  the  wants  of  this  A’ast  multitude  are  selfish 
and  unscrupulous  in  their  measures,  and  unceasingly  ply 
their  ruinous  arts,  regardless  of  the  consequences.  0th- 


- ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT.  * ' 23 

ers  may  seek  to  advance  the  moral  and  spiritual  interests 
of  the  country,  but  they  are  everywhere  met  by  this 
mighty  obstacle. 

The  unequal  contest  is  observed  in  the  calculation 
that  while  $12,000,000  are  annually  spent  in  keeping 
watchmen  upon  the  hills  of  Zion,  $700,000,000  are  em- 
ployed in  ministering  to  the  depraved  appetites  of  men, 
inducing  morbid  conditions  of  mind  and  body,  thus 
bringing  into  action  a host  of  counteracting  influences, 
which  hinder  the  salvation  of  the  country.  Could  the 
money  that  is  appropriated  in  this  direction  be  diverted 
from  its  accustomed  channel,  and  go  to  swell  the  tide  of 
human  interests,  churches,  schools,  colleges,  libraries, 
and  every  benevolent  institution  would  dot  every  por- 
tion of  our  land ; life  and  health  giving  streams  would 
flow  through  all  its  borders ; and  from  countless  homes 
and  hearts  would  issue  such  a jubilant  anthem  as  was 
never  before  sung  upon  earth. 

It  may  be  asked,  “ Is  it  worse  now  than  in  the  days 
of  old  ? ” However  that  may  be,  it  certainly  ought  to 
be  better  ; but  a glimpse  of  the  past  may  .give  some  sat- 
isfaction to  the  propounder  of  such  a question.  Fashion 
and  custom  throw  about  these  things,  as  in  all  others, 
their  various  forms  at  different  periods,  so  that  we  And 
things  regulated  by  another  standard  entirely  as  we  go 
back. 

A thousand  years  of  the  world  passed  away  in  blissful 
ignorance  of  the  nature  and  power  of  alcohol.  Even 
its  existence,  as  extracted  from  fermented  liquor,  was 
unknown.  Then  the  people  of  Arabia  wrought  out  the 
discovery  which  has  proved  such  a curse,  not  only  to  this 
nation,  but  to  almost  every  other.  When  the  process 
was  first  accomplished,  “ no  one  knew  what  this  product 
of  distillation  was  , nor  was  there  any  language  that  had 
for  it  even  a name.  They,  however,  called  it  alcohol. 


INTEMPEEAifCE, 


24  • 

and  that  is  now  the  chemical  name  in  every  country. 
The  word  had  been  previously  used  in  Arabia  as  the 
name  of  a fine  powder,  which  the  ladies  had  used  to 
give  brilliancy  to  their  complexions.  It  was  soon  ascer- 
tained to  be  a poison,  and  no  one  thought  of  using  it  for 
a drink.  About  the  year  1230,  it  began  to  be  used  in 
the  south  of  Europe  as  a medicine ; and  from  thence  its 
use  gradually  extended  for  that  purpose  over  various 
parts  of  the  civilized  world.  Judging  from  its  immedi- 
ate effects,”  it  was  thought  to  be  a valuable  boon  to  the 
human  race,  cheering,  strengthening,  and  prolonging 
existence,  intensifying  all  the  enjoyments  of  mankind, 
adding  those  that  were  hitherto  unknown,  until  it  came 
to  be  denominated  “the  water  of  life.”  The  most 
extravagant  things  were  written  extolling  its  peculiar 
and  wonderful  properties.  Said  a writer  of  the  times, 
in  the  quaint  language  of  the  period,  “ It  sloweth  age, 
it  strengtheneth  youth,  it  helpeth  digestion,  it  abandon- 
eth  melancholie,  it  relisheth  the  heart,  it  lighten eth  the 
mind,  it  quickeneth  the  spirits,  it  keepeth  and  preserv- 
eth  the  head  from  whiiling,  the  eyes  from  dazzling,  the 
tongue  from  lisping,  the  mouth  from  snaffling,  the  teeth 
from  chattering,  and  the  throat  from  rattling  ; it  keepeth 
the  stomach  from  wambling,  the  heart  from  swelling,  the 
hands  from  shivering,  the  sinews  from  shrinking,  the 
veins  from  crumbling,  the  bones  from  aching,  and  the 
marrow  from  soaking.” 

With  such  ideas  of  its  transcendent  virtues,  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  indulgence  of  it  as  a beverage  became 
more  and  more  common.  Ignorant  of  its  physiological 
effects,  and  glorpng  in  the  exhilaration  of  the  draught, 
many  came  to  think  they  could  not  live  without  it. 
More  and  more  extensive  became  its  use ; and  in  1581, 
during  the  Netherland  war,  we  find  the  English  giving 
it  to  their  soldiers,  to  fit  them  better,  as  they  supposed. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


25 


for- their  work,  and  kindle  anew  their  warlike  propensi- 
ties. It  was  not  until  the  year  1700  that  the  people  of 
our  own  country  became  interested  in  the  matter  of  dis- 
tillation, and  then  a distillery  was  opened  at  Boston. 
From  that  time  the  business  rapidly  increased,  and 
spread  through  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  so 
that  in  1815  the  nximber  of  distilleries  had  come  to  be 
numbered  by  thousands,  sending  out  millions  of  gallons 
of  the  fiery  stimulant  for  a waiting  people.  “ With  the 
mass  of  the  people,”  it  is  said,  “distilleries  were  for  a 
long  time  considered  a blessing  to  the  country.  They 
furnished,  it  was  thought,  a ready  market  for  the  surplus 
grain ; they  gave  a new  value  to  the  orchard,  whose 
superabundant  fruit  could  at  once  be  converted  into 
brandy ; they  brought  ready  employ  to  the  carpenter, 
the  cooper,  the  carrier,  and  furnished  the  nation  with 
an  excellent  article,  which  it  was  importing  from  Hol- 
land and  the  West  Indies  at  great  cost.  Pious  men, 
deacons  of  churches,  owned  and  labored  in  them,  with- 
out loss  of  character.  It  is  even  affirmed  that  one  of 
New  England’s  strongest  divines,  filling  one  of  the  best 
pulpits  in  the  land,  ministering  to  the  spiritual  wants  of 
a large  congregation,  was  during  the  week  employed  in 
perfecting  the  operations  and  superintending  the  affairs 
of  a distillery,  which  was  adding  to  his  material  gain. 

If  a convention  of  ministers  was  to  be  held,  the  exhil- 
arating element  was  the  chief  attraction.  Among  the 
curious  items  of  history  at  the  present  day,  are  some 
such  bills,  where  brandy  and  cider  were  by  far  the 
largest  appropriation.  The  following  bills  in  connection 
with  a church  in  Hartford,  Ct.,  will  serve  as  characteris- 
tic specimens  of  these  times.  On  the  back  of  the  first 
bill  is  written,  “ Ordination  : eight  pounds  allowed,  and 
order  given  on  treasurer  in  full.” 


26 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


The  South  Society,  in  Haetfoed, 

To  ISEAEL  SeYIMOUE,  De. 
May  4tli.  To  keeping  ministers,  &c. 


2 mugs  tody, <£024 

6 segars, 0 5 10 

1 pint  wine, .030 

3 lodgings, 0 9 0 

May  5tli.  To  3 bitters, 0 0 9 

3 breakfasts, 0 3 6 

15  boles  punch, 1 10  0 

24  dinners, 1 16  0 

11  bottles  wine, 3 6 0 

5 mugs  flip, 0 5 10 

3 boles  punch, 0 6 0 

3 boles  tody, 0 3 6 


£8  3 11 

This  was  the  year  that  Hartford  was  first  incorporated 
as  a city. 

Still  another,  on  a similar  occasion,  of  a later  date, 
illustrates  the  pecuharity  of  the  times:  — 

South  Society 

To  Thomas  Seymoue,  De. 

For  the  expenses  attendiiig  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Fhnt, 
April  19  and  20,  1791.* 


To  50  lemons,  at  10s., £0  10  0 

3 gallons  of  wine  of  D.  Bull,  . . . . 0 16  10 

1 gallon  of  ditto  of  G.  Burnham,  ...  0 6 6 

1 ditto  of  cherry  rum, 0 10  0 

1 gallon  of  best  spirits, 0 6 0 

2' quarts  of  brandy, 0 3 0 


* This  was  for  sixteen  men  to  dine  one  day,  and  foity  the  second. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


27 


To  1 large  loaf  of  sugar,  16  lbs.,  at  Is.  6(7.,  . £1 
1 brown  sugar,  half  quarter,  10s.,  . . . 0 


half  barrel  best  cyder, 0 

60  wt.  of  best  flour, 0 

24  lbs.  of  butter, 0 

10  doz.  eggs,  at  6(7., 0 

1  bushel  of  apples,  0 

spices, 0 

raisins, 0 

3 lbs.  of  coffee, 0 

1 lb.  of  tea, 0 

18  lbs.  best  beef, 0 

2 qrs.  veal,  &c., 0 

1 turkey, . . . ' 0 

1 doz.  -fowls,  0 

3 hams,  at  6(7., 0 

vegetables, 0 

pickles,  2s.  6(7., • . . . 0 

pipes.  Is.  6(7., 0 

tobacco,  4s.  3(7., 0 

2 bushels  oats,  0 

hire  of  attendance, 1 

hire  house  cleaned, 0 

walnut  wood, 0 

extra  trouble,' 3 


4 0 
10  0 

6 0 
12  0 
18  0 

5 0 
3 1 

6 0 

3 0 

2 4 
8 0 
6 0 

15  10 
6 8 

12  0 
18  6 
8 6 
2 6 
1 6 

4 3 

3 0 

16  0 

4 0 
8 0 
0 0 


Total, £16  15  7 

The  generous  mixture  went  the  rounds,  until  spar- 
kling wit  and  brilliant  sarcasm  were  in  full  play.  At  one 
time,  for  the  greater  refreshment  of  the  whole  man,  a 
little  cracker  was  piit  in  the  cup.  At  a certain  gather- 
ing of  these  ministerial  dignitaries,  the  tender  conscience 
of  one  of  the  brethren  became  somewhat  disturbed  by 
the  indulgence,  and  tasted  the  cra(?ker,  while  he  refused 
the  accompajiying  potion,  whereupon  a reverend  brother 
remarked,  in  tones  of  sarcastic  rebuke,  “ You  will  eat 
the  devil,  but  not  drink  his  broth.” 

For  a long  time,  ministers  were  wont  to  prepare  them- 


28 


INTEMPEKA2fCE, 


selves  for  their  morning  exercises  on  the  Sabbath  by  an 
extra  dram.  The  wedding  and  the  funeral  were  alike 
occasions  for  its  use.  School  committees  took  their  seats 
at  the  last  day  among  the  juvenile  crowd ; and  the  flow- 
ing bumper  was  there,  to  call  out  all  the  goodly  qualities 
of  their  natures,  and  bring  the  social  current  into  livel}'’ 
exercise.  In  short,  the  use  of  the  alcoholic  stimulant 
became  general  among  the  American  people.  It  came 
to  be  considered  the  grand  panjicea  for  all  the  ills  of  hfe, 
a necessity  for  all  classes  of  people  and  all  conditions  of 
being.  It  fortified  one  against  the  heat  of  summer  and 
the  cold  of  winter.  The  “glass”  was  associated  with 
every  object  and  interest  of  life.  Seldom  was  a bargain 
ratified  without  it,  and  a social  party  or  visit  was  never 
complete  aside  from  it.  It  was  the  parishioner’s  wel- 
come to  his  pastor,  an  important  jrart  to  a friendly  greet- 
ing. The  decanter,  with  its  usual  accompaniments,  was 
an  . essential  feature  of  house-furnishing.  At  stated 
times  it  was  regularly  resorted  to,  until  custom  marked 
the  morning  di-am  as  indis2:)ensable,  one  at  eleven  and  at 
four  o’clock,  and  still  another  to  prepare  for  the  slum- 
bers of  the  night.  These  were  necessities.  Those  inter- 
spersed were  governed  by  inclination  and  convenience, 
or  by  the  peculiarity  of  circumstance.  During  the  war 
of  the  American  Revolution,  government  furnished  the 
soldiers  a regular  allowance  of  the  article,  under  the 
mistaken  apprehension  that  it  would  make  them  better 
soldiers.  When  the  war  closed  and  the  men  disbanded, 
carrying  the  habits  of  the  barrack  to' their  homes,  it- was 
found  that  the  custom  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquors 
was  becoming  so  universally  prevalent  in  all  classes  of 
society,  that  the  more  thoughtful  and  intelligent  began 
to  walre  up  to  the  subject,  and  consider  the  importance 
of  doing  something  to  check  what  seemed  to  them  a 
rapidly  growing  evil.  Licensed  by  the  government,  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


31 


sanctioned,  as  it  had  been,  by  the  Christian  church,  the 
public  mind  had  failed  to  grasp  it  in  its  true  bearings. 
Neighborhoods  and  communities  had  hailed  the  distillery 
as  a means  of  blessing  to  them.  It  enhanced  the  value 
of  their  hard-earned  products,  and  filled  their  otherwise 
scanty  coffers  with  wealth.  Altogether,  it  had  become 
a mighty  and  complicated  enterprise ; but  no  candid 
observer  could  shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that,  whatever 
might  be  said  for  it,  it  was*  nevertheless  a prolific  source 
of  wretchedness  and  want.  The  conviction  pressed 
itself  home  upon  the  strongest  and  best  minds  that  some- 
thing must  be  done.  The  yeomanry  of  the  land  would 
not  be  likely  to  begin  the  work  of  reform ; for,  wdrile 
those  in  higher  walks  and  circles  were  sajung,  by  tlieii 
example,  it  was  good  for  them,  they  felt  justified  in  its 
use  themselves.  If  it  was  good  for  the  minister  in  his 
work,  it  was  not  less  so  for  the  weary  tiller  of  the  soil. 
The  ablest  and  best  talent  of  the  times  became  enlisted 
in  the  cause,  and  the  inevitable  tendency  of  the  wide- 
spread habit  was  held  up  to  view.  The  public  mind, 
once  aroused  to  the  contemplation  of  the  subject,  became 
thoroughly  in  earnest.  Agencies  were  set  in  motion, 
societies  formed,  pledges  drawn  up,  and  signed,  and  the 
people  called  to  take  a decided  stand  against  that  which 
experience  denounced  as  a great  wrong.  From  time  to 
time,  earnest  speeches  were  made,  and  the  work  of  re- 
form went  steadily  on.  The  decanters  were  withdrawn 
from  the  sideboards  of  .the  higher  and  more  influential 
circles. 

The  tide  of  publie  sentiment  turned  against  the  prac- 
tice. Some  began  to  be  more  shy  and  reserved  in  its 
use.  But,  while  the  stronger  concoction  was  put  out  of 
sight  in  good  measure,  cider  became  the  common  bever- 
age. Ordinary  families  filled  their  cellars  with  barrels 
of  this  article  for  their  winter  use,  and  not  a meal  of  the 


32 


INTEIMPERANCE, 


day  was  complete  without  it.  At  every  neighborly  call, 
the  mug  of  cider  went  the  rounds,  and  it  was  not  un- 
common that  forty  and  fifty  barrels  were  little  enough 
for  the  demands  of  a common  household.  As  in  Massa- 
chusetts the  work  of  distillation  had  commenced,  so 
there  were  inaugurated  some  of  the  first  reformatory 
movements  of  the  times.  In  1813  a society  was  formed 
that  had  for  its  object  the  suppression  of  intemperance  ; 
but,  inasmuch  as  this  had  only  to  do  with  what  was  con- 
sidered the  '■‘•too  free  use”  of  the  corrupting  drink,  it 
fell  short  of  the  demand.  The  views  of  some  promi- 
nent Englishmen  found  their  way  to  our  shores,  in  which 
total  abstinence  was  set  forth  as  the  only  true  basis  of 
action.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  Dr.  Edwards,  and  some  of 
the  leachng  spirits  of  New  England,  fell  in  with  the  doc- 
trine, and  lent  their  powerful  arguments  to  the  new 
issue.  Gradually  the  leaven  permeated  society,  reno- 
vated the  church,  and  from  that  time  temperance  became 
one  of  the  leading  questions  of  the  age.  Societies  rap- 
idly multiplied;  organizations  were  effected  that  had  dor 
their  sole  object  the  mitigation  of  an  evil  winch  was  ac- 
knoAvledged  to  be  the  greatest  curse  of  the  nation. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  effort  that  has  been  made, 
the  curse  still  remains,  and  the  question  is  still  before 
the  people,  “ What  shall  be  done  to  uproot  the  social 
evil?”  for  such  is  the  phase  it  assumes.  The  voice  of 
the  people  crieth  out  against  the  use  of  the  deadly  stim- 
ulant. A stigma  rests  iqDon  the  sale  of  it ; and  thou- 
sands, impelled  by  the  loA'e  of  gain,  and  j’et  fearful  of 
losing  ■ their  respectable  standing,  will  resort  to  every 
trick  of  artifice  and  e^mry  form  of  secrecy  to  carry  on 
their  unhallowed  trade  unbeknown  to  tlie  world.  It  is 
smuggled  in  every  manner,  labelled  Avith  every  conceiA*- 
able  device,  paraded  by  numberless  mysterious  signs ; 
and  private  entrances  and  curtained  rooms  iu  all  our 


DRINKING  PUNCH  AND  PLIP. 


DRINKING  CIDER. — (Stt  pugt  32.) 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


33 


cities  and  villages  lure  the  unwary  youth,  until  they  are 
under  the  dominion  of  the  tempter  before  the  watchful 
eye  of  even  the  family  has  discovered  the  danger. 

A certain  phase  of  American  life  doubtless  tends  to 
foster  this  unhealthy  and  unhappy  condition  of  things. 
The  rapid  and  extended  communication  among  our  peo- 
ple, the  exciting  chase  for  wealth,  the  eager  determina- 
tion to  rise  above  their  fellows,  and  the  propensity  to 
ignore  the  slow  methods  of  accumulation,  have  all  won 
for  us  the  reputation  of  a fast-going  people.  This  un- 
natural excitability  demands  an  artificial  stimulus.  It 
will  have  it.  The  youth  of  the  country  cannot  bide  the 
plodding  necessities  of  their  condition,  and  they  rush  to 
the  cities  to  realize  their  brilliant  ideal  of  life.  A large 
part  of  them  enter  the  arena,  and  engage  in  the  contest, 
before  their  characters  are  formed  and  their  principles 
are  established ; and,  without  the  restraints  of  home, 
they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  seducer,  and  are  in  the 
meshes  .of  the  destroyer  ere  they  are  hardly  conscious 
of  their  position  themselves.  Retreat  then  seems  im- 
possible, and  they  rush  on  in  reckless  indulgence  and 
extravagance,  until  they  meet  the  end  of  their  fate ; and 
too  often  it  is  a sad  story  of  ruin  and  disgrace.  Thus  it 
is  that  intemperance  is  becoming  fearfully  manifest 
among  the  young  men  of  the  land.  Could  something 
be  done  to  place  an  effectual  check  upon  these  buddings 
of  evil,  and  hinder  their  rapid  working  and  develop- 
ment, it  would  be  a glad  day  for  the  American  people. 
A crisis  is  upon  us.  It  is  a grave,  complicated,  and  mo- 
mentous question.  The  social  and  moral  bearings  of  the 
subject  demand  attention.  Political  and  religious  influ- 
ence needs  to  be  exerted  in  its  behalf.  A revolutionary 
movement  of  right  impetus  and  character  is  loudly  called 
for.  The  wretched  system  of  adulteration  that  prevails 
at  the  present  time,  with  its  vast  proportion  of  poisonous 


INTEMPERANCE, 


d4 

compounds,  makes  the  habit  of  drinking  now  more  per- 
nicious in  its  effects  upon  soul  and  body  than  it  was  in 
the  days  of  the  fathers. 

The  mass  of  the  people  are  ignorant  of  these  things 
to  a great  extent.  Let  them  carefuUy  look  into  these 
things  ; candidly  trace  the  origin,  workings,  and  results 
of  the  whole  matter ; and  then  study  out,  if  they  can, 
the  solution  of  the  mighty  problem.  What  shall  be  done 
to  secure  the  salvation  of  our  country  from  the  curse  of 
Intemperance  ? 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


35 


CHAPTER  II. 

' Physiogloical  View  op  Intempeeance. 

AFFINITY  OF  NATURAL  AND  MORAL.  — DEFACES  THE  HUMAN  FORM.  — 
THE  doctor’s  EXPERIMENT.  — A PHILOSOPHER’S  APHORISMS.  — ALCO- 
HOL NO  PROTECTION  AGAINST  COLD.  — ASSERTION  OF  AN  ENGLISH 
SAILOR.  — STATEMENT  OP  PROFESSOR  SILLIMAN.  — DR.  JEWETT’S  TES- 
TIMONY AS  A MEDICINE. 


The  variety,  beauty,  and  harmony  of  the  natural 
world  are  due  to  certain  laws  and  conditions,  and  these 
latter  are  reahzed  in  proportion  to  the  natural  order  and 
worldng  of  the  first.  So  it  is  with  man.  He  is  placed 
in  his  appropriate  sphere  on  the  earth,  subject  to  condi- 
tions and  laws  also,  and  without  the  recognition  and 
observance  of  these  he  stands  a jarring  element  in  the 
moral  world,  never  coming  to  answer  the  end  of  his 
creation.  Could  we  expect  the  beautiful  alternation  of 
sunshine  and  shadow ; the  warmth,  freshness,  and  life  of 
summer  ; the  silence,  frost,  and  vigor  of  winter,  with  all 
the  attendant  advantages  and  pleasures  of  the  different 
seasons,  if  the  laws  of  the  universe  were  to  be  deranged, 
and  act  contrary  to  their  original  design?  As  well  might 
we  expect  this  as  to  suppose  that  man  could  retain  his 
wonted  activity  and  power,  when  every  part  of  his  body 
was  under  the  influence  of  a demoralizing  element,  the 
direct  tendency  of  which  was  to  weaken,  depress,  and 
undermine  the  whole  constitution.  In  the  early  his- 
tory of  alcoholic  indulgence,  thousands  violated  the  laws 
of  their  physical  being,  without  being  conscious  of  what 
3 


36 


INTEMPERAIJCE, 


tiey  were  doing.  The  people  had  not  an  intelligent 
conviction  of  the  effect  of  the  powerful  stimulant  upon 
the  human  system.  They  were  not  aware  of  the  injury 
that  was  constantly  being  done  by  the  unnatural  inter- 
ference with  the  stomach,  brain,  and,  indeed,  every  organ 
of  the  body.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  even  at  this  enlight- 
ened day  there  is  a want  of  knowledge — at  least  of 
consideration  — with  reference  to  this  phase  of  the 
matter.  It  involves  the  vitahty  of  the  whole  system, 
and,  that  disturbed  and  weakened,  man  is  shorn  of  his 
strength,  and  robbed  of  his  power  in  every  direction. 
“•Alcohol,”  says  an  Enghsh  physician  of  eminence, — 
and  the  same  profession  of  our  own  country  concur  in 
the  opinion,  — “ is  primarily  and  essentially  a lessener 
of  the  power  of  the  nervous  system.”  No  one  who  has 
watched  the  gradual  transformation  of  a man  from  his 
first  cup  in  the  morning  to  the  perpetual  and  insatiable 
calls  of  a diseased  and  depraved  appetite  at  the  last, 
cannot  fail  to  come  to  a like  conclusion.  Every  step  of 
the  way  betokens  less  and  less  of  the  power  of  resistance, 
— of  nervous  force  and  energy.  Humanity  is  disfigured 
by  thousands  of  living  instances  of  this  sad  truth.  All 
the  dignity  and  beauty  of  the  human  form  become  wast- 
ed in  them.  The  story  is  written  on  every  line  of  their 
countenance,  so  that  all  the  world  may  read  as  they 
pass.  The  brightness  of  the  eye  becomes  dimmed  ; the 
vacant  look  and  the  meaningless  stare  take  the  place 
of  the  thoughtful,  inquiring  gaze  of  intelligence.  The 
face  becornes  bloated,  the  hands  nerveless,  the  whole 
figure  bent  and  powerless,  the  step  unsteady ; and  the 
whole  man,  like  a stately  ship  that  has  been  stranded 
upon  the  waters,  is  dismantled  and  useless. 

In  order  to  prove  the  depressing  nature  of  the  stimu- 
lant, a certain  physician  subjected  himself  to  its  opera- 
tion, and  thus  writes  concerning  it : “ Some  years  ago,” 


ITS  ASPSCT  AKD  ITS  EEIVIEDY. 


37 


he  says,  “I  purposely  placed  myself  under  tlie  influence 
of  alcohol.  At  eight  o’clock  P.  M.,  and  three  and  a 
half  hours  after  partaking  of  a light  tea,  I took  one 
ounce' of  rectified  spirits  of  wine  diluted  with  two  ounces 
of  water  ; ten  minutes  afterwards  I repeated  the  dose. 
The  first  perceptible  effect  was  a sensation  of  warmth  in 
the  region  of  the  stomach,  followed  immediately  by  a 
chilliness  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  body,  though 
the  temperature  in  the  room  was  at  68°  Fahrenheit. 
This  was  speedily  followed  by  reaction.  The  pulse  indi- 
cated arterial  excitement,  and  I breathed  more  rajjidly 
than  usual.  As  soon  as  the  spirit  rose  to  the  brain,  the 
cheeks  became  flushed,  the  eyes  sparkled,  and  the  tem- 
poral arteries  throbbed.  I then  felt  an  irresistible  ten- 
dency to  talk,  and  became  very  loquacious.  This  was 
attended  with  an  involuntary  screwing  of  the  mouth, 
a meaningless  laughter,  and  an  attempt  to  sing.  In  fact, 
I felt  ‘ jolly.’  But,  together  with  this,  there  w3,s  an  un- 
steadiness in  my  gait ; my  legs  felt  very  light.  There 
was  a giddiness  in  my  head,  and  a strange  confusion  in 
my  mental  powers.  The  ability  to  fix  the  attention 
upon  any  subject  was  greatly  impaired,  but  the  imagi- 
nation was  excited,  and  the  fancy  wild  and  restless. 
Ideas  came  and  went,  and  I had  no  power  to  retain 
them.  As  I had  not  partaken  of  alcohol  for  many 
years,  its  action  upon  me  was  very  striking  and  rapid,, 
and  soon  became  almost  overpowering.”  The  causes  of 
these  various  symptoms  he  thus  describes : “The  sense 
of  heat  and  ivarmth  in  the  region  of  the  stomach  was. 
undoubtedly  owing  to  the  acrid  property  of  alcohol  irri- 
tating the  mucous  membrane  of  that  delicate  organ. 
The  sense  of  chilliness,  extending  over  the  whole  surface 
of  the  body,  was  clearly  due  to  an  interference  with  the 
capillaries  of  the  surface  and  the  functions  of  the  skin. 
But  were  not  the  exhilaration  and  jollity,  the  brightening 


38 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


of  the  eyes,  and  the  glowing  of  the  countenance,  indica- 
tive of  increased  activity  of  the  circulation  in  the  brain  ? 
If  so,  alcohol  must  be  a stimulant.  But  I remember 
that  this  state  was  attended  by  other  symptoms,  indicat-' 
ing  not  stimulation,  but  depression.  There  were  light- 
ness of  the  head  and  of  the  legs,  unsteadiness  of  gait 
and  movement,  with  a certain  bewilderment  and  obtuse- 
ness of  the  mental  powers.  I then  saw  that  two  of  the 
properties  of  alcohol  were  concerned  in  producing  these 
symptoms.  The  unsteadiness  of  gait  and  motion  was 
to  be  attributed  to  the  narcotic  action  of  the  di'ug  just 
then  coming  into  operation,  depressing  the  cerebellum, 
which  regulates  voluntary  motion,  and  also  the  cere- 
brum, the  seat  of  the  intellectual  powers.  The  excite- 
ment was  owing  to  the  irritant  property  of  alcohol 
affecting  principally  the  base  of  the  brain.  The  alcohol 
being  rapidly  absorbed  from  the  stomach,  and  carried  to 
the  brain,  its  acrid  properties  at  once  come  into  play. 
The  delicate  tissues  of  the  brain,  at  its  base,  are  irri- 
tated, and  blood  flows  to  this  part ; j'et  not  sufficient  at 
first  to  produce  congestion,  but  only  increased  activity 
in  the  circulation. , The  region  of  the  brain  which  is 
the  seat  of  the  reasoning  and  moral  faculties,  is  the  first 
to  suffer,  leaving  the  other  part  (the  seat  of  the  animal 
propensities)  excited,  while  its  functions  are  uncon- 
trolled by  reason  and  conscience.  After  this,  even  the 
cerebellum  becomes  narcotized,  and  the  whole  nervous 
system  oppressed.  On  the  whole,  we  concluded  that 
the  symptoms  we  experienced  were  produced  by  the 
combined  volatile,  acrid,  and  narcotic  properties  of  al- 
cohol.” 

The  practical  working  of  it  everywhere,  and  • in  all 
classes,  demonstrates  beyond  a doubt  that  it  is  antago- 
nistic to  the  human  constitution.  Some  have  been  pos- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  the  use  of  it,  as  a drink,  was 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


39 


a material  aid  in  the  process  of  digestion ; but  a variety 
of  experiments  makes  it  plain  that  it  renders  it  more  dif- 
ficult. “ A tonic  is  that  which  gives  tone  or  firmness 
to  an  organ,  and  therefore  is  the  opposite  of  that  which, 
by  exciting  an  organ  to  extra  action,  is  certain  to  impair 
its  tone,  and  therefore  no  such  property  can  be  ascribed 
to  the  alcoholic  stimulant,  so  called.  A philosopher  of 
long  ago  contradicted  the  statement  that  this  could  have 
anything  to  do  as  an  aid,  and  with  his  name  are  associ- 
ated the  aphoristic  remarks,  “ Water-drinkers  have  keen 
appetites,”  and  that  “ Hunger  is  abated  by  a glass  of 
wine.” 

Some  of  the  lovers  of  the  article  would  fain  assert 
that  it  is  food  in  itself ; that  it  is  extracted  from  the 
nourishing  grains  of  the  earth,  and  its  final  condition 
retains  some  of  its  nutritive  qualities  still ; but  scientific 
analysis  has  exploded  this  theory,  and  common  observa- 
tion has  confirmed  it. 

It  is  also  urged  that  there  is  a benefit  accruing  from 
the  warmth  it  gives  to  the  body,  thus  giving  it  power  to 
resist  the  cold ; but  this,  though  a wide-spread,  is  still  a 
mistaken  apprehension.  All  experience  of  travellers  in 
the  coldest  and  severest  climates  prove,  beyond  a ques- 
tion, that  it  hides  within  itself  none  of  this  power.  The 
voyager  in  the  arctic  regions  bear  unequivocal  testimony 
to  the  injuriousness  of  spirits  on  tliis  very  account,  when 
used  to  any  extent  in  the  high  latitudes.  It  lowers  the 
vital  temperature,  rather  than  increases  it.  A healthful 
flow  and  condition  of  the  blood  are  the  life  of  the  system, 
and  this  becomes  poisoned  and  diseased  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  fiery  liquid,  and  there  is  no  power  of  resist- 
ance in  any  direction.  It  is  well  nigh  impossible  to 
combat  disease  with  this  to  contend  with.  Health- 
producing . remedies  cannot  have  their  legitimate  action 
when  swept  away  by  a current  of  impure  blood. 


40 


INTEMPEBANCE, 


Says  one,  in  ■writing  upon  these  things,  “ As  soon  as 
the  alcohol  makes  its  ■way  into  the  organism  and  diffuses 
through  the  fluids,  so  soon  there  is  depression,  so  soon 
respiration  falls,  carbonic  acid  gas  from  respiration  de- 
creases, and  muscular  strength,  consciousness,  and  sensi- 
bility decline.  Speaking  honestly,  I cannot  admit  the 
alcohols  through  any  gate  that  might  distinguish  them 
as.  apart  from  other  chemical  bodies.  I can  no  more 
accept  them  .as  foods  than  I can  chloroform  or  ether. 
That  they  produce  a temporary  excitement  is  true  ; but 
as  their  general  action  is'  quickly  to  reduce  animal  heat, 
I cannot  see  ho-w  they  can  supply  animal  force.  To  re- 
sort for  force  to  alcohol  is,  to  my  mind,  equivalent  to  the 
act  of  searching  for  the  sun  in  subterranean  gloom,  until 
all  is  night.” 

An  English  sailor  asserts  that  “A  Danish  crew  of 
sixty  men,  well  supplied  ■with  provisions  and  these  fiery 
waters,  attempted  to  winter  in  Hudson’s  Bay  ; but  fifty- 
eight  of  them  died  before  spring.  An  English  crew  of 
twenty-two  men,  destitute  of  these  waters,  and  obliged 
to  be  almost  constantly  exposed  to  the  cold,  wintered  in 
the  same  bay,  and  only  two  of  them  died.” 

It  has  been  said  that,  “If  the  human  body  were  trans- 
parent, and  the  operations  of  its  organs  in  sustaining 
life  visible,  every  man  might  see  that  nature  itself 
teaches  that  the  drinking  of  alcohol  cannot  be  contin- 
ued by  a man  without  hastening  his  death.”  From  the 
first  formation  of  the  habit  a physical  malady  has  com- 
menced, and  nothing  can  control  or  avert  it  but  an 
entire  removal  of  that  which  induced  the  condition. 
The  maddening  thirst  which  it  engenders  has  nothing 
natural  about  it.  None  of  the  natural  and  God-given 
provisions  of  the  earth  meet  its  demands,  or  assuage  the 
intensity  of  its  cravings.  By  the  activity  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  organs  of  the  human  system,  they  have  as 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


41 


much  to  do  “ as  is  consistent  with  permanently  health- 
ful action,  and  with  the  longest  continuance  of  human 
life,  when  men  take  nothing  but  suitable  food  and 
drink.” 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  physi- 
ological aspect  of  the  case,  and  all  that  has  been  de- 
clared of  its  inevitable  results  in  arresting  vitality,  a 
large  number  of  physicians  still  deal  largely  in  its  use 
with  their  patients,  professedly  to  secure  just  the  oppo- 
posite  effect.  A distinguished  chemist  of  our  own 
country.  Professor  Silliman,  pronounces  it  of  the  same 
nature  as  chloroform  and  ether ; and  no  one  would 
think  of  giving  either  to  a weak  and  sinking  patient  as 
a restorative.  Some,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the 
sick  and  the  dying,  declaim  loudly  against  this  practice 
of  thus  giving  the  stupefying  potion,  thus  beclouding 
the  intellect  and  obscuring  the  vision  of  those  who 
should  see  and  feel  clearly  and  rationally. 

Dr.  Jewett  thus  quotes  a conversation  on  this  point : 
“ ‘ In  what  state  of  mind  did  the  man  die  ? ’ asked  a 
gentleman  of  a Christian  brother,  who,  the  day  previ- 
ous, had  spent  some  time  with  a dying  friend.  ‘ I can- 
not tell  you  anything  about  his  state  of  mind,  wheth- 
er cheered  by  Christian  hopes  or  otherwise,’  said  the 
friend ; ‘ for  he  was,  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours  of 
his  life,  completely  intoxicated  by  the  large  quantity 
of  liquor  givefi  him,  with  a view  to  support  him  in  his 
sinking  condition  ; and,’  added  the  gentleman,  who  was 
a faithful  and  devoted  Christian,  and  often  in  the 
chambers  of  the  sick  to  speak  words  of  comfort  and 
Christian  counsel  to  the  suffering,  ‘ I cannot,  these  days, 
get  any  comfort  or  do  any  good  by  visiting  the  sick  and 
the  dying,  for  a large  portion  of  them  die  drunk.  So 
much  brandy  is  given  them  that  the  feeble  brain  reels 
under  its  influence,  and  they  have  no  realizing  sense  of 
their  condition.’  ” 


42 


EsiTEMPERAXCB, 


For  all  sorts  of  diseases,  and  all  conditions  of  being,  it 
is  the  universal  and  favorite  prescription  with  some. 
Either  from  ignorance,  or  a want  of  due  respect  to 
hygienic  laws,  it  is  the  same  thing  for  heat  or  for  cold, 
for  the  want  of  a thing  or  its  superabundance.  Says 
the  above  writer,  “ A good  lady  some  time  since  asked 
me  if  I thought  it  likely  that  the  drinking  of  ale  or 
milk  punch  by  a nursing  mother  would  affect  the  child. 
‘ Of  course,  madam,’  I replied.  ‘ But  why  did  you  ask 
the  question?’  This  was  her  answer:  AVhy,  aU  the 
whUe  my  daughter  followed  the  prescription  of  her 
doctor,  and  drank  milk-punch,  we  could  scarce!}^  keep 
the  little  one  awake,  even  while  dressing  it.  It  slept 
nearly  all  the  time,  day  and  night.’  ‘ Yes,  madam,’  I 
replied,  ‘ and  it  was  precisely  the  same  sleep  that  the 
poor  drunkard  enjoys  when  we  find  him  stretched  by 
the  fence  or  on  the  sidewalk.’  ” 

A great  work  'will  be  done  for  the  coming  age  if  the 
false  impressions  of  the  nature  and  tendency  of  these 
things  shall  be  corrected,  and  sometliing  be  introduced 
that  shall  add  to  the  power  of  the  human  system,  in- 
stead of  diminishing  and  wasting  its  force  and  energ}*. 
The  physiological  argument  for  the  cessation  of  strong 
drink  as  a beverage. is  lu-gent  and  strong,  to  say  nothing 
of  its  extensive  use  by  the  medical  profession.  The 
body  is  the  temple  of  the  soul,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
sacred  thing  enshrined  within  it.  Temperance  should  be 
written  upon  every  portal,  and  made  guardian  of  the 
sacred  interests. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  . 


43 


CHAPTER  III. 

Intemperance  as  related  to  Heart  and  Intellect. 

EELATiON  OF  MIND  AND  BODY.  — KINGLY  POWER  OF  INTELLECT.  — 
DOOM  OF  TALENTED  MEN.  — QUEEN  CITY  STATESMEN.  — THE  WAN- 
DERING BEGGAR. — POWELL’s  OPINION. — EPICURUS. — HUGH  MILLER’s 
TESTIMONY.  — THE  MORAL  NATURE.  — EFFECTS  OF  MORAL  BLIGHT. 

“ My  mind  to  me  a kingdom  is,”  was  an  immortal 
strain  of  one  of  the  poets  ; and  when  he  uttered  the 
fervid  exclamation,  he  paid  a glowing  tribute  to  the  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  man  — to  that  which  raises  him  high 
above  all  the  lower  orders  of  creation,  and  makes  him 
first,  chiefest,  and  best  among  all  the  creations  of  the 
Infinite,  Mind  is  the  glory  of  man,  and  the  wealth  of 
a kingdom  but  faintly  shadows  forth  its  scope  and  des- 
tiny, Its  aspirations  are  as  high  as  heaven,  and  its  ex- 
istence commensurate  with  that  of  the  great  Eternal 
himself.  The  body  is  the  casket  which  holds  the  price- 
less thing,  and  no  philosopher  may  be  able  to  tell  just 
how  they  are  bound  together — to  tell  precisely  how  the 
mysterious  union,  the  subtle  relations,  and  the  hidden 
springs  are  adjusted ; but  one  thing  is  certain,  they 
act  and  re-act,  and  the  harmony  or  friction  of  one  pro- 
duces corresponding  conditions  in  the  other.  It  there- 
fore follows  that,  if,  from  any  cause  whatever,  the 
machinery  of  the  body  becomes  powerless  and  inert, 
the  higher  faculties  of  the  soul  are  retarded  accordingly, 
hindered  in  their  growth  and  development,  and  nar- 


44 


INTEIMPEEANCE, 


rowed  down  in  their  capacities  for  action  in  every  way. 
If  the  body  be  constantly  under  those  depressing  influ- 
ences which  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  physio- 
logical conditions  of  intemperance,  it  cannot  be  a fit  ally 
for  the  mind  within.  It  cannot  be  a help  to  it.  From 
the  very  necessity  of  its  relation,  it  must  affect  its  color- 
ing and  character ; and  if  it  does  not  build  up,  it  will 
pull  down  ; if  it  does  not  elevate  and  soften,  it  will  de- 
grade and  harden.  Who  shall  count  the  loss  ? Who 
sum  up  the  fearful  aggregate  of  the  mental  waste  that 
has  come  to  the  world  by  reason  of  this  single  habit 
alone  ? Some  of  the  brightest  intellects  the  world  has 
known  have  gone  out  in  obscurity  and  darkness ; their 
light  has  been  quenched  in  rayless,  starless  gloom,  and 
they  sleep  in  dishonored  graves,  living,  if  at  all,  in  the 
memories  and  hearts  of  men,  only  as  standing  monu- 
ments to  proclaim  against  the  folly  of  excessive  drink- 
ing. Names  that  might  have  graced  the  pages  of  history 
in  every  department  of  science,  letters,  and  art,  find  no 
place  there,  because  their  rare  endowments  were  slighted 
and  perverted  by  their  own  reckless  and  unhallowed  in- 
dulgence. 

We  declaim  against  the  folly  and  ignorance  of  the 
heathen,  who  gloat  over  the  oracles  of  superstition, 
building  their  altars,  and  bringing  their  offerings  to  the 
strange  gods  of  their  own  fancy  ; but  the  countless  dev- 
otees that  flock  to  the  shrine  of  Bacchus  in  our  own  civ- 
ilized land,  and  in  our  own  enlightened  age,  is  vastly 
more-  to  be  wondered  at.  To  see  men,  who  were  made 
to  reflect  the  image  of  the  Divine,  deliberately,  wantonly 
throw  away  their  birthright  — men  who  are  fully  con- 
scious of  their  responsibility,  duty,  and  destiny,  to  spurn 
it  all,  and  pander  to  the  cravings  of  a diseased  appetite 
which  they  themselves  have  taken  pains  to  create  — is  a 
greater  sin  than  heathenish  folly  has  yet  committed. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


45 


Poets,  with  brilliant  imagination,  who  might  have 
sent  out  their  thrilling  melodies  into  the  heart  of  a sad- 
dened world,  dispelling  many  shadows  and  lifting  many 
burdens,  have  foregone  their  privileges,,  and  given  them- 
selves to  drink,  which  has  become  to  them  a demon, 
that  has  hushed  all  the  sweet  cadences  of  song,  making 
themselves  miserable  and  the  world  more  sad. 

Historians  have  used  the  destroying  stimulant,  until 
the  unsteadiness  of  their  hands  has  compelled  them  to 
lay  down  the  pen,  which  might  have  recorded  the  inci- 
dents of  a passing  age  in  such  a manner  as  to  insiire  the 
gratitude  of  their  posterity  in  all  coming  time  ; but  their 
career  has  been  cut  short,  and  their  influence  brought 
to  an  end,  because  they  had  wound  about  themselves 
the  galling  chains  of  intemperance,  and  could  not  again 
be  free.  Men  of  clear  perception  and  keen  intellectual 
vigor  are  fltted  to  become  philosophers,  and  there  are 
many  of  these  who  might  have  enriched  the  world’s 
thought,  and  shed  light  and  knowledge  upon  the  intri- 
cate problems  of  moral  and  mental  working ; but  they 
have  failed,  because  their  perceptions  have  been  dimmed 
and  their  vigor  diminished  before  the  work  was  done. 

Statesmen  have  been  lost  to  the  country  in  this  way, 
and  an  endless  amount  of  talent  crushed  and  lost  sight 
of  in  the  wreck  and  ruin  involved  in  this  the  curse  of 
our  land.  Intellect  would  hold  kingly  sway,  if  it  might. 
The  gigantic  evil  has  crept  into  the  councils  of  the  na- 
tion , and  there,  where  wisdom,  prudence,  and  modera- 
tion should  rule  and  reign ; where  the  gravity,  weight, 
and  importance  of  arguments  and  decisions  affect  the 
interest  and  des'tinies  of  nations,  — there  have  been 
found  representatives  of  the  people,  singled  out  from  all 
others  for  their  superior  ability,  who  yet  were  unfit  to 
sit  in  judgment,  because  the  faculties  of  their  minds 
were  deranged  and  impaired,  their  judgment  warped 


46 


rS'TEMPERANCE, 


and  clouded,  by  unduly  imbibing  the-  exciting  and  poi- 
sonous ch’augbt.  In  the  Queen  City  of  the  West  is  a 
young  man  of  rare  ability  and  promise.  The  people 
have  not  been  slow  in  the  recognition  of  his  statesman- 
like qualities,  and  have  conferred  upon  him  some  of  the 
highest  honors  of  the  state.  His  clear  understanding 
of  legislative  working,  and  his  broad  and  comprehensive 
views  of  legislative  demand,  hSve  won  for  him  an  envi- 
able distinction,  and  given  him  a large  place  in  the  appre- 
ciation of  an  intelligent  public.  Nothing  stands  between 
him  and  the  high  road  to  congressional  fame  but  the 
habit  of  intemperance,  which  is  coiling  itself  about  him, 
and  bids  fair  to  hold  him  in  its  anaconda-like  embrace. 
There  are  times  when,  for  days  together,  he  gives  him- 
self up  to  the  fatal  indulgence,  and  all  his  powers  of  in- 
tellect are  as  though  they  were  not.  Without  a revolu- 
tionary movement  to  hold  him  in  check,  his  doom  is 
sealed.  His  mind  will  fail,  his  intellect  droop,  and  he  is 
gone.  And  this  is  but  a single  instance  of  a countless 
list  of  similar  cases.  Several  years  since,  a man  called 
at  the  door  of  the  writer,  a wandering  beggar.  Forbid- 
ding in  every  aspect  of  his  appearance,  one  felt  an  invol- 
untary shrinking  from  his  presence.  Aimless,  homeless, 
and  friendless,  he  went  hither  and  thither,  fulfilling 
none  of  the  duties  he  owed  to  himself  as  an  individual, 
and  of  course  wholly  regardless  of  those  incumbent  upon 
him  as  a citizen.  Spurned  from  the  doors  of  men,  he 
hated  and  cursed  them  all.  He  added  nothing  to  the 
stock  of  human  happiness,  and  his  life  was  a miserable 
failure  with  himself ; and  yet  that  man  was  a graduate 
of  one  of  the  most  prominent  colleges 'of  New  England. 
He  entered  the  institution  with  high  hopes  and  flattering 
prospects.  His  friends  fondly  imagined  that  such  fine 
talent  must  meet  with  more  than  ordinary  success,  and 
they  looked  to  see  him  come  out  in  the  foremost  ranks 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEJIEDY. 


47 


of  the  honored.  But  in  an  evil  hour  he  yielded  himself 
to  the  spell  of  the  tempter,  and  he  went  down,  until  his 
once  soaring  intellect  was  gone,  the  dignity  of  his  man- 
hood sacrificed,  the  strength  of  his  character  lost,  and 
every  trace  of  his  noble  ambition  had  vanished.  The 
stories  of  faded  intellects  are  sad  ones.  The  annals  of 
intemperance  are  full  of  them,  and  history,  observation, 
and  experience  are  confirming  the  mournful  truth  con- 
tinually. 

Says  Frederick  Powell,  a noted  English  writer,  — 

“ The  drunkard  is  a degraded  man  intellectually. 
Our  Creator  has  endowed  us  with  mental  faculties  that 
we  may  work  out  the  higher  purposes  of  life,  and  fulfil 
our  grand  destiny.  He  has  endowed  us  with  judgment 
and  understanding,  that  we  may  inquire  into  the  causes 
of  things,  and,  by  comparing  one  thing  with  another, 
arrive  at  the  truth.  He  has  also  endowed  us  with  im- 
agination and  fancy,  that  we  may,  as  it  were,  revel  in  a 
world  of  beauty  of  our  Dwn  creation.  He  has  endowed 
us  with  memory,  that  we  may  treasure  up  events  and 
facts,  and  thus  garnish  our  minds  with  mental  wealth. 
Now,  intemperance  obscures  the  judgment  and  weakens 
the  understanding,  so  that  a man  is  unable  to  discover 
or  to  appreciate  truth.  It  distorts  the  imagination,  and 
fills  the  chambers  of  the  soul  with  pictures  obscene  and 
foul.  It  perverts  and  paralyzes  the  memory,  which, 
instead  of  treasuring  up  useful  knowledge,  becomes  a, 
receptacle  for  the  dregs  of  knoAvledge,  and  thus  only 
adds  to  the  soul’s  pollution.” 

Thus  it  is  that  degradation  is  stamped  upon  the  high- 
est and  best  part  of  being,  and  the  distinctive  glory  of 
man  departs.  .There  has  been  a prevalent  notion  among 
some  that  one  could  think  and  write  better  under  the 
infiuence  of  an  exciting  stimulant;  but. numberless  tes- 
timonies of  professional  men  go  to  corroborate  the  state- 


48 


ISTTEMPEEAKCE, 


ment  that,  so  far  from  being  an  aid,  it  seriously  detracts 
from  the  working  power  of  the  brain.  Almost  all  the 
great  and  continuous  thinkers  of  every  age  have  united 
in  this  one  conclusion,  that  alcoholic  action  is  a sure  and 
certain  hinderance  to  intellectual  progress.  The  philoso- 
phers of  antiquity  set  a good  example  in  this  respect. 
Epicurus,  the  great  founder  of  a philosophical  system, 
urged  temperance  as  the  only  passport  to  the  enjoyments 
of  life,  and  the  only  means  of  attaining  to  the  perform- 
ance of  its  virtues.  Over  his  gateway  he  kept  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : “ Passenger ! here  thou  wUt  find 
good  entertainment ; it  is  here  that  pleasure  is  esteemed 
the  sovereign  good.  The  master  will  receive  thee  cour- 
teously ; but  take  note,  thou  must  expect  only  a piece 
of  cake  and  thy  fill  of  water.  Here  hunger  is  not 
provoked,  but  satisfied ; thirst  is  not  excited,  but 
quenched.”  How  different  this  from  the  many  costly 
and  elaborate  entertainments  of  the  rich  at  the  present 
day,  where  wine  and  spirits  fill  the  goblets  of  the  feaster 
and  the  feasted,  and  the  sparkling  mixture  is  quaffed, 
the  exhilaration  begins,  and  deeds  and  sayings  are  re- 
corded that  bring  them  down  to  a level  with  the  lowest 
circles,  if  it  be  they  escape  a positive  disgrace  to  human- 
ity ! In  Egypt  wine  was  forbidden  to  both  priest  and 
king,  because  it  was  deemed  prejudicial  to  the  interests 
of  clear-headed  reason,  and  the  welfare  of  the  nation 
demanded  the  full  exercise  of  this. 

Hugh  Miller,  so  well  known  as  one  of  Scotland’s  in- 
tellectual workers,  thus  speaks  of  an  occasion  when 
two  glasses  of  wliiskey  were  presented  to  him.  “ It 
was  considerably  too  much  for  me,”  he  says ; “ and 
when  the  party  broke  up,  and  I got  home  to  my  books, 
I found,  as  I opened  the  pages  of  my  favorite  author, 
the  letters  dancing  before  my  eyes,  and  that  I coiild  no 
longer  master  the  sense.  The  condition  into  which  I 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


49 


had  brought  myself  was,  I felt,  one  of  degradation.  I 
had  sunk  by  my  own  act,  for  the  time,"  to  a lower  level 
of  intelligence  than  that  on  which  it  was  my  privilege 
to  be  placed ; and,'  though  the  state  could  have  been  no 
very  favorable  one  for  forming  a resolution,  I in  that 
hour  determined  that  I would  never  again  sacrifice  my 
capacity  of  intellectual  enjoyment  to  a drinking  usage, 
and  with  God’s  help  I was  enabled  to  hold  by  the  deter- 
mination.” 

Dr.  Hitchcock,  of  Amherst  College,  has  left  on  record 
his  testimony  to  the  fact  that  mental  labor  can  be  per- 
formed vastly  better  when  one  is  free  entirely  from  arti- 
ficial stimulus.  While  making  a geological  survey  in 
Massachusetts,  which  involved  peculiar  and  long-contin- 
ued exertion,  he  says,  — 

“ I was  usually  employed  from  sunrise  until  ten  o’clock 
at  night,  with  little  interruption ; yet,  during  all  my 
wanderings,  I di’ank  not  one  drop  of  alcohol,  and  I 
found  myself  more  capable  of  exertion  and  fatigue  than 
in  former  years,  when  I was  in  the  habit  .of  taking  occa- 
sionally stimulating  drinks.” 

Mr.  S.  C.  Hall,  a well-known  author,  says,  — 

“ I live  by  the  labor  of  my  brain,  and  can  testify  that, 
since  I have  become  a teetotaler,  I have  had  an  increase 
of  intellectual  power,  and  can  work  three  times  longer 
than  when  I indulged,  even  moderately,  in  the  use  of 
strong  drink.” 

Statements  might  be  multiplied,  were  it  necessary ; 
but  no  one  can  look  into  the  subject  at  all  without 
being  convinced  of  the  truth  of  these  things  as  a prin- 
ciple. Besides  all  these  intellectual  considerations,  there 
is  still  another  side  to  the  picture.  Man  has  a moral 
constitution.  There  is  Conscience,  that  faithful  monitor 
in  the  human  breast.  When  we  attempt  to  do  wrong, 
Conscience  says,  “ Beware ! and  think  of  the  divine  law 


50 


INTEMPBEANCE, 


and  its  consequences.”  When  we  walk  uprightly  and  do 
well,  then  we  seem  to  hear  her  sweet  voice  ciqdng, 
“Well  done!”  There  is  also  that  keen  appreciation 
of  the  good,  the  beautiful,  and  the  true,  and  those  noble 
affections  that  so  adorn  and  bless  human  nature.  But 
intemperance  hurls  Conscience  from  her  lofty  seat,  and 
her  voice  ceases,  or  sounds  unheeded ; those  noble  senti- 
ments of  rectitude  and  purity  are  weakened ; the  kindly 
affections  of  the  human  breast  become  withered ; whilst 
every  evil  passion  and  vile  propensity  are  fostered  into 
frightful  development  and  ruinous  exercise.  Thus  the 
man  who  drinks  to  excess,  and  gives  up  the  key  to  the 
citadel  of  reason,  is  a lost  man.  It  matters  not  how  rich 
the  endowments  of  his  nature  may  be,  he  is  povertj'- 
stricken  in  every  respect. 

“ The  gteat  and  essential  evil  of  intemperance,”  says 
Dr.  Channing,  “ is  the  voluntary  extinction  of  reason. 
The  great  evil  is  inward,  or  spiritiial.  The  intemperate 
man  divests  himself  for  a time  of  his  rational  and  moral 
nature,  casts  from  himself  self-consciousness  and  self- 
command,  brings  on  frenzy,  and,  by  repetition  of  this 
insanity,  prostrates  more  and  more  his  rational  and 
moral  powers.  He  sins  immediately  and  directly  against 
the  rational  nature,  that  divine  principle  which  distin- 
guishes between  truth  and  falsehood,  between  right  and 
wrong  action,  which  distinguishes  man  from  the  brute. 
This  is  the  essence  of  the  vice,  what  constitutes  its 
pecuhar  guilt  and  woe,  and  what  should  particularly 
impress  and  awake  those  who  are  laboring  for  its  sup- 
pression. All  the  other  evils  are  light  compared  with 
this,  and  almost  all  flow  from  this  ; and  it  is  right,  it  is 
to  be  desired,  that  all  other  evils  should  be  joined  with 
and  follow  this.  It  is  to  be  desired,  when  a man  lifts  a 
suicidal  arm  against  his  higher  life,  when  he  quenches 
reason  and  conscience,  that  he  and  all  others  should  re- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  51 

ceive  solemn,  startling  warning  of  the  greatness  of  his 
guilt ; that  terrible  outward  calamities  should  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  inward  ruin  which  he  is  working ; that  the 
handwriting  of  judgment  and  woe  on  his  countenance, 
form,  and  whole  condition  should  declare  what  a fearful 
thing  it  is  for  a man,  God’s  rational  olfspring,  to  re- 
nounce his  reason  and  become  a brute.” 

A man  with  a blighted  moral  nature  is  a sad  specta- 
cle ; no  sadder  sight  in  all  the  world.  Every  avenue  to 
good  is  closed.  However  fine  his  sensibilities  may  have 
been,  they  become  blunted.  Arguments  are  powerless. 
He  will  not  be  convinced.  Tears,  sighs,  entreaties,  are 
without  avail.  The  most  affectionate  pleadings  are  as 
nothing.  The  offices  of  love  are  all  unheeded,  and  there 
is  but  httle  hope  that  salvation  will  come  to  such  a 
one.  Surely  it  is  enough  to  excite  the  pitying  tears  of 
even  the  angels  in  heaven,  if  they  are  permitted  to  take 
a look  into  the  ways  of  the  sons  of  men.  To  see  crea- 
tures so  gifted  of  Heaven,  capable  of  rising  ever  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  one  great  central  idea  of  all  perfec- 
tion, yet  abandon  all  aspiration  and  effort,  and  effectu- 
ally bar  the  door  against  all  progress,  — surely  they 
must  count  it  an  anomaly  in  the  universe,  and  force  the 
exclamation.  Verily  it  is  a fallen  world. 


4 


52 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SociAii  AND  Religious  Outlook. 

NO  PART  OP  BEING  UNTOUCHED.  — HOME,  THE  HEART  OF  THE  SOCIAL 
WORLD.  — THE  YOUNG  MAN.  — CASE  IN  WESTERN  NEW  YORK.  — POV- 
ERTY NOT  THE  GREATEST  CURSE.  — LOSS  TO  SOCIETY.  — BLIGHT 
UPON  THOSE  FACULTIES  WHICH  BUILD  UP  RELIGIOUS  CHARACTER. 

There  is  no  one  isolated  stand-point*’ where  we  may 
take  our  position,  and  with  one  sweeping  glance  take  in 
the  whole  effect  of  the  mighty  evil  we  are  considering. 
The  complicated  nature  of  manldnd  forbids  this.  They 
who  have  traced  its  influence  upon  the  physical  part  of 
being,  and  seen  how  surely  and  effectually  it  degrades 
the  moral  and  intellectual,  wfll  also  be  prepared  to  be- 
hold the  completion  of  the  work  in  its  social  and  religious 
aspect.  Could  it  be  seen  that  there  was  any  part  of  the 
man  that  could  escape  the  ravages  of  the  destroyer, 
that  some  little  corner  of  the  being  somewhere  would 
preserve  its  natural  conditions,  and  remain  the  same, 
we  might  say  there  was  some  redeeming  feature  in  the 
case ; but  it  is  apparent,  beyond  a doubt,  that  nothing 
is  left  untouched  by  the  blighting,  withering  influence 
of  intemperate  indulgence.  There  were  harmony  and 
adaptation  at  the  beginning,  and  it  was  meant  they 
should  be  preserved.  To  ignore  the  requisite  conditions 
is  to  blast  the  whole  scheme.  The  divinely-appointed 
institutions  of  the  world,  for  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
involve  the  necessity  of  a social  nature ; and  the  perfec- 
tion and  development  of  this  are  clearly  connected  vith 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


63 


mind  and  heart.  With  the  powers  of  these  weakened 
and  blunted,  there  is  no  more  capacity  for  true  social 
enjoyment.  There  is  no  more  blessed  boon  given  to 
man  for  his  earthly  condition  than  home.  There  is  no 
one  provision  which  so  completely  meets  the  varied 
wants  of  his  nature  as  this ; and  he  who  allows  the  ten- 
drils of  his  heart  to  spread  the  farthest,  and  take  the 
deepest,  strongest  hold  of  this,  is  the  man  who  is  most 
secure  against  all  the  temptations  and  evils  of  a siren 
world.  It  is  here  that  all  the  social  affections  bud  and 
blossom.  It  is  here  that  their  richest  and  sweetest  fra- 
grance is  shed.  “Here,”  it  is  said,  “is  the  heart  of  the 
social  world.”  Men  are  what  their  homes  are ; chil- 
dren what  their  homes  make  them. 

It  is  the  place  where  all  the  social  qualities  of  the 
nature  should  be  unfolded,  cherished,  and  enjoyed ; a 
place  where  the  interminghng  of  thought  and  affection 
should  be  constantly  making  one  happier  and  better ; 
and  if  allowed  its  practical  and  legitimate  working,  it 
will  tend  to  the  reahzation  of  this  end.  It  is  true,  those 
who  are  wont  to  quaff  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  base 
their  arguments  for  its  use  strongly  upon  its  social  qual- 
ities and  influence ; but  who  does  not  know  that  it 
destroys  all  the  finer  feelings  of  humanity,  and  makes 
the  once  cheerful  and  pleasant  spirit  of  the  household 
its  most  dreaded  foe  ? 

The  demon  of  drink  has  been  permitted  to  enter  thou- 
sands of  homes  in  our  land,  and  wherever  it  has  gone, 
it  has  hushed  every  song  "of  joy,  killed  out  every  hope, 
and  brought  only  poverty,  wretchedness,  and  every 
form  of  misery  in  its  train. 

We  need  no  other  evidence  of  its  transforming  power 
of  the  social  affections,  than  to  see  what  it  hath  wrought 
here.  It  banishes  domestic  peace,  for  there  is  nothing 
left  for  it  to  feed  upon.  The  sharpest  agonies  and  the 


64 


INTEIIPERANCE, 


keenest  pangs  are  associated  with  this  phase  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  lives  of  wives,  mothers,  and  sisters  are  cru- 
elly embittered  all  the  way  through,  because  husband, 
brother,  and  son  are  all  lost  — are  meaningless  terms, 
when  their  hearts  have  been  made  callous,  and  their 
social  nature  robbed  of  its  beauty.  Says  the  eloquent 
Dr.  Kitchell,  “ Much  of  this  is  concealed  fi’om  the 
public  gaze  as  long  as  concealment  is  possible.  Back 
of  the  visible  ravages  of  intemperance,  and  deeper  than 
all  these,  there  lies  a field  of  devastation  which  has 
never  been  fully  explored,  and  can  never  be  more  than 
partially  reported.  It  is  the  wasted  realm  of  the  social 
affections,  the  violated  sanctuary  of  domestic  peace.” 
“ It  is  here  that  the  higher  and  inner  life  o'f  woman  is 
marred  and  tortured,  her  most  sacred  and  cherished 
affections  crushed  and  blighted.  These  are  private  sor- 
rows, that  her  most  intimate  confidant  must  not  know, 
so  anxious  is  she  to  sustain  the  good  character  of  those 
so  dear  to  her.  But  from  this  inner  world  of  suppressed 
wretchedness  there  will  occasionally  burst  forth  to  the 
ear  of  human  pity  a piercing  cry  of  those  who  writhe 
under  the  slow  torments  of  a desolate  heart  and  the 
overflow  of  misery.  It  is  merely  what  inadvertently 
escapes  through  chasms  violently  rent  open,  and  tells 
sadly  of  a sea  of  anguish  that  is  stifled  forever  in  its 
secret  recesses.  The  bursting  hearts  of  mothers  for  theh 
ruined  sons ; of  wives  from  whose  life  all  'joy  and  hope, 
all  love  and  tenderness,  have  been  blotted  out ; of  daugh- 
ters’ shame,  crushed  and  doomed  to  penury  and  dis- 
grace — could  we  look  on  all  these  grief-stricken  females, 
some  of  whom  have  been  well  off,  happy,  and  respected, 
now  doomed  to  brutality  and  want,  each  with  her  own 
peculiar  history  of  woe,  we  should  ask  no  further  wit- 
ness to  the  heinous  guilt  of  the  rum  traffic,  or  the  right- 
eousness of  law  against  the  destroyer  of  all  these.”  He 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


55 


who  was  designed  to  be  the  friend  and  protector  of 
woman  is  in  no  wise  fitted  for  his  place  .when  he  is 
under  the  debasing  influence  of  strong  drink.  The  ob- 
servation of  every  one  will  furnish  examples  of  those 
who  have  dethroned  the  dearest  friends  of  their  hearts, 
and  sundered  every  social  tie,  rather  thaii  forego  the 
so-called  pleasures  of  the  exhilarating  beverage. 

It  is  not  many  years  since  a young  man  in  Massachu- 
setts went  to  the  grave  of  a drunkard  in  the  very  vigor 
of  his  youth.  Nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  an  affectionate 
family,  he  was  the  object  of  fond  solicitude,  aud  bright 
hopes  were  entertained  of  his  future  success  in  life.  In 
an  evil  hour  he  yielded  to  the  fascinations  of  the  cup, 
and  when  it  became  apparent  that  the  habit  was  taking 
fast  hold  of  him,  an  earnest  effort  was  made  to  save  him. 
But  parental  counsel,  sisterly  entreaty,  and  friendly  ad- 
vice were  nothing.  If  he  stayed  in  his  career  long  enough 
for  conscience  to  whisper  of  the  wickedness  of  his  course, 
he  speedily  silenced  the  voice  of  the  monitor,  by  imbib- 
ing the  poison  still  more  deeply.  His  father  thought  to 
expostulate  with  him  once  more,  and  promised  to  set 
him  up  in  business  and  provide  handsomely  for  his  start- 
ing, if  he  would  seek  to  free  himself  from  the  habit  that 
was  upon  him,  and  which  would  surely  end  in  his  de- 
struction. But  the  susceptibility  and  ambition  of  even 
that  youthful  spirit  were  gone,  and  he  replied  to  ‘the 
touching  appeal,  with  heartless  indifference,  “I  had 
rather  have  my  drink  ; ” and  the  broken-hearted  father 
followed  his  son  to  a drunkard’s  grave  at  the  early  age 
of  twenty-three.  Love  and  kindness,  that  are  so  po- 
tent under  other  circumstances,  have  but  little  effect 
here.  The  innocent  and  eloquent  pleadings  of  a child 
that  would  soften  and  subdue  the  most  obdurate  heart 
in  a man  that  was  sober,  make  no  impression  here,  for 
aU  that  distinguishes  man  is  scorched,  burned  out,  and 


56 


INTEjVIPEEA27CE, 


all  the  distinctive  attributes  of  his  nature  are  dead,  and 
he  stands  like  a withered  tree,  only  awaiting  its  time  to 
fall.  — An  instance  that  came  under  the  observation  of 
the  writer,  in  Western  New  York,  illustrates  the  case 
in  hand ; and  yet  it  is  but  one  of  the  many  that  are 
acted  over  and  over  again  every  day  in  every  part  of 
the  land.  Ralph  W was  a young  man  of  prepossess- 

ing appearance  and  marked  ability.  Affable  and  cour- 
teous in  his  manner  to  an  unusual  extent,  brilliant  and 
gay  in  his  conversation,  sparkhng  in  wit  and  repartee, 
he  was  the  life  of  every  company,  and  no  circle  was  con- 
sidered complete  without  him,  in  the  community  where 
he  lived.  He  paid  his  attentions  to  an  estimable  and 
worthy  young  lady,  and  when  it  was  known  that  the 
engagement  was  ratified  that  bound  them  together,  she 
was  congratulated  as  having  won  a rare  prize.  Up  to 
this  time  he  had  only  sipped  a little  now  and  then  to 
please  his  gay  acquaintances;  but  the  insidious  habit 
worked  on  insidiously  until  it  became  a confirmed  thing. 
Meantime  he  was  married  and  settled  down  in  a quiet 
and  attractive  home.  In  the  course  of  time  a son  and 
daughter  were  added  to  his  family,  and  he  still  main- 
tained his  rej)utation  as  a kind  and  tender  husband,  a 
thoughtful  and  loving  father;  but  all  the  while  the 
appetite  for  strong  drink  had  been  gaining  ground,  until 
it  overtopped  all  other  considerations,  and  it  became 
known  that  he  was  frequently  intoxicated.  For  a long 
time  his  social  popularity  covered  a multitude  of  sins, 
and  his  family  sought  in  every  wa}*  to  shield  him  fi-om 
public  disgrace ; but  there  is  no  way  for  these  things 
when  the  man  becomes  thoroughly  wedded  to  his  cups. 
Dead  to  all  feelings  of  shame  himself,  he  cares  for  noth- 
ing but  how  he  may  quell  the  maddening  thirst.  Yield- 
ing to  this,  he  went  reeling  through  the  streets,  carrying 
untold  misery  and  anxiety  into  his  home,  breaking  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT. 


57 


hearts  that  otherwise  would  have  been  as  dear  to  him 
as  life.  — Sometimes  reason  is  dethroned  by  causes  alto- 
gether beyond  human  control,  and  persons  turn  against 
their  dearest  and  best  friends,  and  it  is  sad ; but  it  is  far 
less  aggravating  in  its  conditions  than  where  people 
deliberately  and  wilfully  pervert  their  higher  nature, 
and  render  themselves  incapable  of  exercising  ordinary 
thought  or  affection.  Even  woman  has  buried  aU  her 
gentler  qualities  in  this  remorseless  grave.  It  is  a hu- 
miliating fact  that  she  has  laid  aside  every  endearing 
virtue  of  wife  and  mother,  sister  and  daughter,  and  gone 
into  the  depths  of  degradation  which  the  indulgence 
will  inevitably  produce.  In  country  places  this  may 
not  be  seen  or  known ; but  the  miserable  hovels,  the 
wretched  abodes  of  squalor  and  want  in  all  our  large 
cities,  tell  the  mournful  tale,  and  are  the  unmistakable 
signs  of  what  rum  will  do.  Crowds  of  neglected  and 
forsaken  children  show  how  utterly  dead  to  every  social 
instinct  and  affection  those  have  become  who  should 
have  been  their  guardians  and  protectors.  So  true  is 
it  that  all  that  is  good  will  die  out  of  the  heart,  in  either 
man  or  woman  who  gives  up  to  the  debasing  influence 
of  strong  drink.  There  have  been  those  who  have  been 
ready  to  sing  to  the  praises  of  the  “flowing  bowl,”  but 
no  one  was  ever  enticed  to  drink  of  the  foaming,  spar- 
kling mixture  but  found,  all  too  late,  that  a ven- 
omous serpent  lurked  at  the  bottom,  which  poisoned  the- 
life  of  his  manhood,  and  gave  warrant  of  his  death  at 
the  beginning.  Says  a writer  already  quoted,  “Intem- 
perance is  to  be  pitied  and  abhorred  for  its  own  sake 
much  more  than  for  its  outward  consequencesv  These 
consequences  owe  their  chief  bitterness  to  their  criminal 
source.  We  speak  of  the  misery  which  the  drunkard 
carries  into  his  family.  But  take  away  his  own  brutal- 
ity, and  how  lightened  would  be  those  miseries!.  We 


58 


INTEMPEEA2TCE, 


talk  of  his  wife  and  children  in  rags.  Let  the  rags 
continue,  but  suppose  them  to  be  the  elfects  of  an  inno- 
cent cause.  Suppose  the  drunkard  to  have  been  a vir- 
tuous husband,  and  an  affectionate  father,  and  that 
sickness,  not  vice,  has  brought  his  family  thus  low. 
Suppose  his  wife  and  children  bound  to  him  by  a strong 
love,  which  a life  of  labor  for  their  support,  and  of  un- 
wearied kindness,  has  awakened ; suppose  them  to  know 
that  his  toils  for  their  welfare  had  broken  down  his 
frame ; suppose  liim  able  to  say,  “ We  are  poor  in  this 
world’s  goods,  but  rich  in  affection  and  religious  trust. 
I am  going  from  you,  but  I leave  you  to  the  Father  of 
the  fatherless,  and  to  the  widow’s  God.”  Suppose  this, 
and  how  changed  those  rags ! How  changed  those  cold, 
naked  rooms!  The  heart’s  warmth  can  do  much  to 
withstand  the  winter’s  cold ; and  there  is  hope,  there  is 
honor,  in  this  virtuous  indigence.  What  breaks  the 
heart  of  the  drunkard’s  wife  ? It  is  not  that  he  is  poor, 
but  that  he  is  a drunkard.  Instead  of  that  bloated  face, 
now  distorted  with  passion,  now  robbed  of  every  ^leam 
of  intelligence,  if  the  wife  could  look  on  an  affectionate 
countenance,  which  had  for  years  been  the  interpreter  of 
a well-principled  mind  and  faithful  heart,  what  an  over- 
whelming load  would  be  lifted  from  her ! It  is  a hus- 
band whose  touch  is  polluting,  whose  infirmities  are  the 
witnesses  of  his  guilt,  who  has  blighted  all  her  hopes, 
who  has  proved  false  to  the  vows  which  made  her  his ; 
it  is  such  a husband  who  makes  home  a hell,  not  one 
whom  toil* and  disease  have  cast  on  the  care  of  wife  and 
children.  Drunkenness  brings  poverty,  but  this  is  not 
the  greatest  curse.  Could  the  sweet  influences  of  love 
and  trust  be  restored,  thousands  would  take  all  the  in- 
conveniences and  privations  of  this  without  a murmur. 
Were  any  new  disease  to  come  into  the  land,  that  had 
anything  like  the  power,  that  showed  anything  hke  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


59 


deadly  working  of  intemperance,  how  would  it  be- 
dreaded ! How  its  nature  would  be  studied,  and  rem- 
edies be  sought  to  lessen  its  power,  and  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  its  victims  ! But  hardly  a conceivable  dis- 
ease could  maintain  its  perpetuity  like  this,  or  be  so 
wide-spread  and  devastating  in  its  effects ; and  yet  it 
goes  on,  annually  slaying  its  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  while  only  a few  are  trying  to  arouse  the 
slumbering  people. 

The  man  is  not  only  lost  to  himself  and  his  family, 
but  he  is  lost  to  society.  He  is  fitted  for  none  of  the 
duties  which  devolve  upon  him  in  this  respect.  The 
high  privileges  of  citizenship,  like  every  other  good,  are 
disregarded  and  forgotten.  Could  the  blight  and  waste 
now  produced  by  drinking  be  reversed,  and  the  refresh- 
ing, invigorating,  and  life-giving  principles  of  temper- 
ance have  full  sway,  what  a tide  of  blessing  would  be 
poured  upon  the  social  institutions  of  our  country ! 
The  day  of  millennial  glory  would  come  in  a thousand 
times  sooner. 

There  is  woe  enough  written  upon  the  nature  of  man, 
could  we  stop  here ; but  there  is  another  shading  to  the 
picture,  before  it  is  complete.  The  religious  element 
of  man’s  being  gives  him  claim  to  kinship  with  the  Eter- 
nal. The  spiritual  within  him  is  traced  by  the  finger 
of  a divine  Arclutect,  and  when  the  superscription  be- 
came visible  and  manifest,  it  read,  “ Thou  art  immortal; 
thy  being  shall  be  co-extensive  with  the  Infinite,  and 
thou  shalt  reign  when  the  dust  of  ages  has  ceased  to 
be.”  With  this  dignity  stamped  upon  his  nature,  man 
stood  alone,  a thinking,  rational,  immortal  creature ; the 
highest,  best,  and  crowning  glory  of  all  God’s  creations. 
More  of  the  divine  perfections  were  to  be  reflected  from 
his  being  than  from  ajiy  other.  It  was  meant  that  he 
should  illustrate  God’s  ideal  of  good  more  fully  than  all 


60 


INTEMPEEAl^CE, 


the  world  beside.  So  strongly  did  this  desire  enter  into 
his  plan,  that  when  man  turned  aside  from  his  high  des- 
tiny, and  by  wilful  transgression  forfeited  his  original 
birthright,  the  costliest  sacrifice  that  heaven  or  earth 
could  devise  was  instituted  to  restore  him  to  his  lost  pos- 
sibilities. Redemption  wrought  out  new  phases,  and  re- 
instated mankind  in  a position  of  glorious  opportunity, 
where  all  the  capabilities  and  demands  of  his  threefold 
nature  might  be  fully  met  and  exercised.  These  were 
as  broad  as  the  world,  and  as  vast  as  eternity ; but  there 
was  no  limit  or  discouragement  in  the  work  as  long  as 
the  given  faculties  were  allowed  their  legitimate  play, 
and  made  to  fulfil  their  appropriate  ends.  It  is  not  a 
light  thing  to  have  a soul  in  charge.  When  God  sends 
men  into  the  world,  he  sends  them  with  this  gift,  and 
he  says,  “ Take  care  of  it  for  me,  and  I Avill  give  thee  thy 
wages.”  “ Thou  shalt  live  and  reign  with  me  if  thou 
do  it  well.  All  thine  earnest  efforts  in  this  direction 
I will  crown  with  success,  and  own  at  the  last.”  A 
work  like  this,  it  is  clear,  demands  the  fullest  play  of 
the  best  faculties.  If  a man  stupefies  himself  Avith  drink, 
or  anything  else,  he  cannot  think ; and  if  thought  is 
quenched,  he  cannot  reason ; and  if  reason  do  not  act, 
there  can  be  no  wise  judgment ; and  without  this  there 
is  no  decision,  which,  in  its  turn,  fails  to  bring  any  real 
achievement ; so  that  it  may  truly  be  said,  that  “ intem- 
perance is  the  mightiest  force  that  clogs  the  progress  of 
all  good,”  in  whatever  phase  it  be  viewed,  social,  moral, 
intellectual,  or  religious.  * 

In  estimating  the  ravages  of  alcohol,  another  thus 
sums  up  the  results : — 

“ It  has  taken  the  glory  of  health  from  the  cheek, 
and  placed  there  the  reddish  hue  of  the  wine-cup. 

“ It  has  taken  the  lustre  from  the  eye,  and  made  it 
dim  and  bloodshot. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


61 


“ It  has  taken  beauty  and  comeliness  from  the  face, 
and  left  it  ill-shapen  and  bloated. 

“ It  has  taken  strength  from  the  limbs,  and  made 
them  weak  and  tottering. 

“ It  has  taken  fiimness  and  elasticity  from  the  steps, 
and  made  them  faltering  and  treacherous. 

“ It  has  taken  vitality  from  the  blood,  and  filled  it 
Avith  poison  and  seeds  of  disease  and  death. 

“ It  has  taken  the  impress  of  manhood  from  off  the 
face,  and  left  the  marks  of  sensuality  and  brutishness. 

“ It  has  bribed  the  tongue  to  madness  and  cursing. 

“It  has  turned  the  hands  from  deeds  of  usefulness, 
to  become  instruments  of  brutality  and  murder. 

“ It  has  broken  the  ties  of  friendship,  and  planted 
seeds  of  enmity. 

“ It  has  made  a kind,  indulgent  father  a brute,  a ty- 
rant, and  a murderer. 

“ It  has  transformed  the  loving  mother  into  a very 
fiend  of  brutish  incarnation;”  and  besides  all  this  that 
happens  to  the  individual  and  family,  there  is  yet  the 
broader  and  national  view,  which  will  be  considered  as 
Ave  proceed. 


62 


INTEMPEEA^SrCE, 


CHAPTER  V. 
Origin  of  the  Evil. 


MODERATE  DRINKING.  — EFFECT  OF  X SINGLE  GLASS.  — SUPPOSITION  OF 

ITS  LIFE-LONG  INFLUENCE,  — MODERATION  INVOLVES  THE  GREATER 

DANGER,  — THE  MEETING.  — THE  PAUPER’S  STORY.  — LITTLE  BY 

LITTLE. 

While  enumerating  and  considering  the  tremendous 
consequences  of  so  destructive  a habit,  ve  are  con- 
strained to  ask,  Where  is  the  beginning  of  these  tilings  ? 
How  is  it  that  it  is  started  and  fostered,  until  it  gains 
such  relentless  hold,  that  there  is  no  escape  from  it  ? 
No  more  important  question  can  he  propounded  at  the 
present  time,  if  it  be  asked  with  a view  of  finding  a 
remedy  that  shall  meet  the  emergencies  of  the  case,  and 
check  the  prevalence  of  a habit  that  is  becoming  so  uni- 
versal and  prevalent.  Learned  men  may  discourse  long 
and  eloquently  upon  the  origin  of  the  races ; but  it  is 
not  half  as  important  as  to  discover  the  application  of 
means  that  shall  free  them  from  chains  which  keep  their 
bodies  and  souls  in  slavish  bondage.  Scientific  men 
will  brave  any  amount  of  hardship  and  fatigue  ; will 
encounter  the  dangers  of  the  most  inhospitable  regions 
and  the  fiercest  climates,  while  following  the  obscure 
windings  of  some  stream  that  may,  perhaps,  lead  them 
to  its  hidden  source,  and  all  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  an 
eager  and  speculative  people  ; but  there  is  yet  a mighti- 
er problem  to  solve  than  these,  and  they  who  give  the 
best  practical  solution  may  uplift,  and  perchance  save,  a 
nation. 


THE  BEGINXING  AND  THE  END. 


ITS  ASPECT  AI<nD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


65 


The  beginning  of  a thing  is  sometimes  disproportion- 
ate to  the  ends  accomplished  ; yet -in  everything  there 
is  a starting-point,  around  which  clusters'  the  main  fea- 
ture of  interest,  and  with  which  is  associated  all  that 
comes  of  it.  Almost  everything  in  nature  is  small  at 
the  first.  It  is  the  bud,  the  leaf,  the  stem,  the  branch, 
the  trunk,  the  unfolding  and  developing  process  all  the 
way;  and  a similar  law  controls  and  determines  the 
conditions  and  habits  of  men.  It  is  emphatically  true 
with  the  habit  of  drinking;  it  begins  with  a little, — 
just  a httle  now  and  then,  — and  he  who  takes  it  never 
dreams  of  going  beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation. 
Mankind  are  wont  to  glory  in  their  power  of  resistance, 
and  they  spurn  the  warning  Avith  indignation  that  possi- 
bly that  “ little  ” may  weaken  that  power.  A moderate 
indulgence  can  do  them  no  harm,  they  think ; and  yet  it 
is  the  way  in  which  all  drunkards  are  made.  This 
first  stage  of  intoxication  is  considered  by  some  to  be  its 
worst  phase.  A physician  of  the  present  times,  who 
has  written  upon  “ moderate  drinking,”  as  the  “ worst 
phase  of  intemperance,”  says  that  the  most  fearful  con- 
sequences of  this  state  is,  “ that  it  deprives  a man  of 
that  calm  reflection  and  sagacious  foresight  so  essential 
to  the  correct  performance  of  his  duties  in  every  relation 
of  life.  If  the  privation  of  reason  is  only  partial,  then 
the  victim  is  not  the  same  person  he  would  be  if  in  a 
natural  condition  , and  a very  large  proportion  of  our 
public  men  are  stunted  and  distorted  in  this  way.  The 
passions  and  emotions  are  more  easily  aroused,  and  are 
less  under  the  control  of  the  will. 

“ From  this  it  will  be  perceived  no  man  is  safe  after 
having  drank  one  small  glass.  He  is  a changed  man, 
and  will  say  and  do  things  that  he  would  not  say  or  do 
unaffected  by  liquor.  He  has  parted  with  a portion 
of  his  discretion,  which  is  among  the  higher  attributes 


66 


INTiaiPEKAXCE, 


of  Ms  manhood.  He  has  lost  some  of  his  reason.  While 
his  passions  are  more  readily  provoked,  he  has  become 
weakened  in  the  power  of  self-control.  He  is  not  only 
more  inchned  to  do  wrong,  but  is  less  liable  to  restrain 
himself  from  wrong  doing.  He  has,  therefore,  under- 
gone a very  serious  transformation ; and  if  not  ready  for 
an  evil  deed,  he  is  certainly  more  hable  to  be  led  into 
vice  and  crime.  Such  is  the  effect  of  the  most  moder- 
ate use  of  alcoholic  beverages,”  and  “in  order  to  obtain 
a clear  comprehension  of  the  hijury  to  the  brain  and 
nervous  system,  which  is  caused  by  one  drink  of  any 
kind  of  liquor  containing  alcohol,  we  have  only  to  sup- 
pose the  effect  or  fuddle,  however  slight,  to  be  as  last- 
ing as  life  itself ; that  Nature  was  not  kind  enough  to 
relieve  its  victim,  in  due  time,  of  the  maudhn  and  per- 
plexing burden ; that  there  was  no  balm  in  Gilead  for 
such  a case,  and  no  means  under  heaven  by  which  he 
could  become  a sober  man  again.  Could  we  conceive 
of  a greater  affliction,  short  of  the  entire  wreck  of 
reason,  than  a mortal  thus  doomed  to  carry  in  his  blood 
and  in  his  brain  that  one  portion  of  alcohol,  during  all 
the  days  and  nights  of  his  earthly  existence  ? Would 
not  such  a wretch  cross  the  seas,  and  wander  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  rehef  ? Would  he 
not  sigh  continually  for  deliverance,  and  long  for  sobri- 
ety or  death  ? and  if  the  intoxication  of  one  glass  would 
be  such  a horrible  calamity,  in  case  it  was  permanent 
and  hopeless,  it  must  he  equally  had  u'liile  it  lasts.” 

People  declaim  loudly  against  the  lower  and  baser 
forms  of  intoxication  ; but  the  same  writer  continues  his 
statement  by  saying,  that  while  these  have  been  cen- 
sured and  paraded,  “ the  evils  of  onoderate  tipphng,  of 
themselves,  and  apart  from  all  tendency  to  excess,  have 
never  been  adequately  depicted.”  “ Extreme  drunken- 
ness,” he  says,  “ with  all  its  pains  and  horrors,  is  a 


ITS  ASPECT  AXD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


67 


condition  that  carries  with  it  a salutary  disgust  and  a 
wholesome  warning ; it  is,  therefore,  a blessed  thing, 
compared  with  moderate  drinking,  in  every  light  in 
which  it  can  be  viewed.  It  is  a blessing  to  the  drinker, 
because  it  punishes  him  for  the  violation  of  his  moral 
and  physical  nature.  It  makes  him  stupid,  and  unable 
to  do  the  mischief  he  would  be  more  likely  to  do  in  a 
moderate  state  of  intoxication.  It  presents  a strddng 
lesson  to  all,  of  some  of  the  miseries  inseparable  from 
the  drink  fashion.  The  lowest  class  of  drunkards  would 
be  ashamed  to  drink,  if  they  were  not  sustained  by 
the  example  of  their  more  respectable  and  moderate 
associates ; they  would  not  be  seen  at  a place  where 
none  but  their  own  tribe  were  admitted  ; the  liquor 
traffic  is  kept  up  by  moderate  drinkers ; no  human 
being  could  be  found  base  enough  to  keep  a den  for  the 
exclusive  accommodation  of  sots.  The  sots  are  relieved 
of  self-disgust  by  mixing  themselves  up  with  moderate 
drinkers  as  much  as  possible.  If  there  could  be  no  tip- 
pling without  vulgar  excess ; if  every  man  that  uses 
alcohol  as  a drink  would  imbibe  a sufficient  quantity  to 
make  him  beastly  drunk  every  time  he  tasted  it ; if 
there  were  but  two  classes  in  the  country  — helpless 
sots  and  consistent  teetotalers,  our  condition  would  be 
vastly  better  than  it  is  now,  and  it  would  continue  to 
improve  rapidly.  The  sober  class  would  increase  and 
the  sots  diminish,  until  this  greatest  of  all  evils  would 
disappear.  The  second  stage  of  drunkenness  may  be 
a sorer  affliction  to  the  individual  and  to  his  family;  but 
the  greatest  calamities  and  the  saddest  disasters  come 
from  moderate,  and  not  from  immoderate  intoxication. 
A man  with  a moderate  quantity  of  alcohol  in  his  brain 
will  often  be  super-serviceable  and  over-officious  in  the 
transaction  of  business,  and  will  be  very  apt  to  blunder  ; 
and  the  blunder  may,  owing  to  his  position  and  the  na- 


68 


INTEMPEKAKCE, 


ture  of  his  duties,  he  of  such  a character  as  to  destroy  the 
lives,  property,  and  happiness  of  hundreds  of  his  fellov- 
beings ; whereas,  if  ruore  deeply  intoxicated,  he  would 
not  attempt  anything  of  the  kind,  and  if  he  did  he 
W’ould  be  arrested  in  his  temerity  by  others.  His  trust, 
would  be  forfeited,  his  position  lost,  and  his  power  to 
vex  and  trouble  extensively  would  be  gone  The  evil, 
of  course,  will  be  greatest  where  it  affects  the  greatest 
and  most  influential  minds.  Such,  if  topers,  must  neces- 
sarily be  moderate,  because  they  move  in  a sphere  from 
which  the  poor  sot  is  excluded,  and  have  charge  of 
interests  with  which  he  is  not  permitted  to  meddle  ; and 
it  is  among  these,  the  master  spirits  and  controllers  of 
human  affairs,  that  alcohol  does  the  most  harm.” 

Could  an  effectual  check  be  given  to  this  habit  of  so- 
called  moderation,  would  men  of  respectable  standing 
cease  to  begin  with  the  glass  of  occasional  cheer,  it 
would  be  comiraratively  easy  to  arrest  this  vice  of  the 
age.  This  has  been  called  the  “ devil’s  railroad,  with  a 
steep  downward  grade  to  the  depot  of  destruction ; ” 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  multitudes  who  throng  the 
highway  of  intemperance,  or,  at  least,  most  of  them, 
took  their  first  steps  very  moderately.  The  first  glass, 
in  thousands  of  instances,  has  been  taken  hesitatingly 
and  shrinkingly ; but  the  sense  of  shame  and  the  power 
of  resistance  have  been  less  with  the  second,  and  still 
less  with  the  third,  and  so  on  until  there  is  no  more 
trace  of  pride  or  honor  left. 

In  a volume  compiled  by  E.  C.  Delevan,  of  Eew  York, 
he  narrates  the  following  thrilling  scene ; and  as  it  illus- 
trates in  a forcible  manner  the  present  j)hase  of  the  sub- 
ject, we  give  the  story  as  he  records  it.  The  people  of  a 
certain  town  were  gathered  together  to  discuss  the  merits 
of  the  license  question,  and  decide  whether  to  authorize 
any  one  to  deal  out  the  article  among  them  or  not. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  69 

“ The  town  had  suffered  greatly  from  the  sale  and  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors.  The  leading  influences  were 
opposed  to  total  abstinence.  At  the  meeting,  the  cler- 
gyman, a deacon,  and  the  physician  were  present,  and 
were  all  in  favor  of  continuing  the  custom  of  license,  — 
all  in  favor  of  permitting  a few  men  of  high  moral  char- 
acter to  sell  alcohol, — for  they  all  agreed  in  the  opin- 
ion that  alcohol  in  moderation,  when  used  as  a beverage, 
was  a good  creature  of  God ; and  also,  to  restrict  the 
sale  or  moderate  use  was  an  unjust  interference  with 
human  liberty,  and  a reflection  upon  the  benevolence 
of  the  Almighty.  They  all  united  in  the  belief  that,  in 
the  use  of  alcohol  as  a beverage,  excess  alone  was  to  be 
avoided.  The  feeling  all  appeared  to  be  one  way,  when 
a single  teetotaler,  who  was  present  by  accident,  but 
who  had  been  a former  resident  of  the  town,  begged 
leave  to  differ  from  the  speakers  who  had  preceded  him. 
He  entered  into  a history  of  the  village  from  its  early 
settlement ; he  called  the  attention  of  the  assembly  to 
the  desolation  moderate  drinking  had  brought  upon 
families  and  individuals ; he  pointed  to  the  poorhouse, 
the  prison-house,  and  the  graveyard  for  its  numerous 
victims ; he  urged  the  people,  by  every  consideration  of 
mercy,  to  let  down  the  flood-gates,  and  prevent,  as  far 
as  possible,  the  continued'  desolation  of  families  by  the 
moderate  use  of  alcohol.  But  all  would  not  do.  The 
argument  of  the  clergyman,  the  deacon,  and  the  physi- 
cian, backed  b3''  station,  learning,  and  influence,  were 
too  much  for  the  single  teetotaler.  No  one  arose  to 
continue  the  discussion,  or  support  him,  and  the  presi- 
dent of  the  meeting  was  about  to  put  the  question, 
when  all  at  once  there  arose  from  one  corner  of  the 
room  a miserable  female.  She  was  thinly  clad,  and  her 
appearance  indicated  the  utmost  wretchedness,  and  that 
her  mortal  career  was  almost  closed.  After  a moment 
5 


70 


INTESIPERANCE, 


of  silence,  and  all  eyes  being  fixed  upon  her,  she 
stretched  her  attenuated  form  to  its  utmost  height,  then 
her  long  arms  to  their  greatest  length,  and  raising  her 
voice  to  a shrill  pitch,  she  called  upon  all  to  look  at 
her. 

“ ‘ Yes,’  she  said,  ‘look  upon  me,  and  then  hear  me. 
All  that  the  last  speaker  has  said  relative  to  moderate 
drinking  as  being  the  father  of  all  drunkenness,  is  all 
true.  All  practice,  all  experience  declares  its  truth. 
All  drinking  of  alcoholic  poison  as  a beverage,  in  health, 
is  excess.  Look  upon  me.  You  all  know  me,  or  once  did. 
You  all  know  I was  once  the  mistress  of  the  best  farm 
in  this  town.  You  all  know,  too,  I once  had  one  of  the 
best,  the  most  devoted  of  husbands.  You  all  know  I 
had  five  noble-hearted,  industrious  boys.  Where  are 
they  now  ? Doctor,  where  are  they  now  ? You  all 
know.  You  all  know  they  lie  in  a row,  side  by  side,  in 
yonder  churchyard  ; all,  every  one  of  them,  filling  the 
drunkard’s  grave  ! They  were  all  taught  to  believe 
that  moderate  drinking  was  safe,  — excess  alone  ought 
to  be  avoided  ; and  they  never  achnowledyed  excess.  They 
quoted  you,  and  you,  and  you  — pointing  with  her  shred 
of  a finger  to  the  priest,  deacon,  mid  doctor — as  author- 
ity. They  thought  themselves  safe  under  such  teachers. 
But  I saw  the  gradual  change  coming  over  my  family 
and  prospects  with  dismay  and  horror  ; I felt  Ave  were 
all  to  be  overwhelmed  in  one  common  ruin.  I tried  to 
ward  off  the  blow ; I tried  to  break  the  spell  — the 
delusive  spell  — in  which  the  idea  of  the  benefits  of 
moderate  drinking  had  involved  my  husband  and  sons. 
I begged,  I prayed:  but  the  odds  were  greatly  against 
me.  The  priest  said  the  poison  that  was  destroying  my 
husband  and  boj'S  was  a good  creature  of  God ; the 
deacon  (who  sits  under  the  pulpit  there,  and  rvho  took 
our  farm  to  pay  his  rum  bills)  sold  them  the  poison ; the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  E.EJ.IEDY. 


71 


physician  said  that  a little  was  good,  and  excess  ought 
to  be  avoided.  My  poor  husband  and  my  dear  boys  fell 
into  the  snare,  and,  one  after  another,  were  conveyed 
to  the  dishonored  grave  of  the  drunkard.  Now  look  at 
me  again.  You  probably  see  me  for  the  last  time ; my 
sand  has  almost  run.  I have  dragged  my  exhausted 
frame  from  my  present  abode,  your  poorhouse,  to  warn 
you  all  — to  warn  you,  deacon  ! — to  warn  you,  false 
teacher  of  God’s  word,’  — and  with  her  arms  high 
flung,  and  her  tall  form  stretched  to  its  utmost,  and  her 
voice  raised  to  an  unearthly  pitch,  she  exclaimed,  — 
‘ I shall  soon  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God  ; 
I shall  meet  you  there,  ye  false  guides,  and  be  a swift 
witness  against  you  aU.’ 

“ The  miserable  female  vanished  ; a dead  silence  per- 
vaded the  assembly : the  priest,  deacon,  and  phj^sician 
hung  their  heads.  The  president  of  the  meeting  put 
the  question,  ‘ Shall  we  have  any  more  licenses  to  sell 
alcoholic  poisons,  to  be  drank  as  a beverage  ? ’ The 
response  was  unanimous,  ‘ No ! ’ and  such  would  be  the 
verdict  of  all  Christendom,  could  they  unitedly  listen  to 
similar  tales  of  suffering  and  woe,  that  are  written,  if 
not  on  the  visible  page,  on  the  sensitive  tablets  of  the 
human  heart,  in  letters  of  fire.”  These  stories  have 
almost  invariably  the  same  beginning.  It  is  little  by 
little.  A few  sands  washed  from  the  base  of  a strong 
dike  may  seem  as  nothing  ; but  a little  more,,  and  this 
repeated,  may  send  the  rushing  waters  on  beyond  con- 
trol ; and  so  it  is  a glass  here,  and  a glass  there,  that  cre- 
ates the  remorseless  craving,  which  knows  no  bounds. 
But. who  offers  that  glass  ? and  what  is  it  ? Let  the 
next  chapter  tell. 


72 


INTEMPEKANCE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

What  is  the  Stiiviulaht 

CLEOPATRA. — THE  FIRST  STEP.  — SOCIAL  PARTY.  — NEW  TEAR’s  CUS- 
TOM.— THE  CREEK  INDIAN.  — ANECDOTE  OF  HENRY  WILSON. — CHEM- 
ICAL TESTS.  — PORT  AND  MADEIRA,  SO  CALLED.  — WINE  DEALER’S 
CONFESSION. — PROF.  BUTLER’S  TESTIMONY,  — HORACE  GREELEY'S. 
VOICE  FROM  PERSIA.  — DR.  HOLLAND.  — CALIFORNIAN  IDEAS.  — BIBLE 
STAND-POINT. 

It  is  said  of  the  beautiful,  accomplished,  and  queenly 
Cleopatra  that  she  dissolved  a precious  gem  in  a glass, 
and  drank  it,  at  one  of  her  royal  banquets,  that  she 
might  show  her  proud  retinue  of  attendants  there  was 
nothing  too  dear  and  costly  to  minister  to  the  pleasure 
and  contribute  to  the  aggrandizement  of  one  of  her  rank 
and  position.  Strange  and  foohsh  as  this  may  seem,  it 
is,  nevertheless,  less  strange  and  less  foolish  than  the 
conduct  of  those  who  press  the  glass  to  their  lips,  into 
which  they  throw  ambition,  honor,  reputation,  and  every 
good  that  makes  life  a joy  and  a blessing.  This  is  to 
throw  away  every  possibility  and  privilege  of  manhood, 
and  make  the  whole  history  a long  and  significant  blank 
which  should  he  a record  of  virtuous  and  worthy  deeds. 
It  is  none  too  easy  to  build  up  a high  and  noble  charac- 
ter, amid  the  difficulties  and  allurements  of  a waj’^ward 
world,  if  the  best  conditions  of  being  are  regarded ; hut 
it  is  utterly  impossible  when  one  is  under  the  dominion 
of  decidedly  adverse  influences.  To  trace  these  to  their 
source,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  is  to  find  them 
hid  in  the  bosom  of  the  family. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


73 


“ Tell  me,”  said  a gentleman  to  one  who  had  become 
a miserable,  wretched  inebriate,  in  the  days  of  compara- 
tive youth,  — “ tell  me,  where  and  what  was  it  that  first 
led  you  into  this  course  of  intemperance  ? ” 

“ It  was  wine  at  my  father’s  table,  sir,”  replied  the 
doomed  and  unhappy  man.  “ Before  I left  the  shelter 
of  the  paternal  roof,  I had  learned  to  love  the  drink  that 
has  been  my  ruin.  The  first  drop  that  ever  passed  m}’' 
lips  was  handed  to  me  by  my  now  broken-hearted 
mother.” 

Doubtless  many  would  make  a similar  confession,  if 
pressed  with  the  same  inquiry.  There,  are  a great  many 
homes  in  the  land  where  a choice  collection  of  spirits  is 
considered  an  indispensable  part  of  their  domestic  econ- 
omy. The  amount  of  these  determines,  in  great  meas- 
ure, their  wealth  and  standing.  The}'’  form  a part  of 
the  regular  furnishing  of  the  table,  and  the  strength  and 
qualities  of  these  various  compounds  are  the  subject  of 
enthusiastic  comment  among  the  honored  guests  of  the 
household.  The  younger  and  unsuspecting  members 
grow  familiar  with  the  thing,  and  the  practice  may  not 
be  associated  in  their  minds  with  anything  that  is  low. 
This  is  the  beginning  of  the  downward  course  of  many. 
The  habitual  use  of  cider  and  wine  at  the  table  has  led 
thousands  into  the  open  sea  of  intemperance.  They  go 
out  into  the  broader  theatre  of  public  life,  where  temp- 
tation is  thicker  and  fiercer,  — where  companions  of 
kindred  tastes  and  habits  are  only  too  glad  to  excuse 
themselves  by  seducing  others,  — and  they  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  the  tempter.  The  social  party  presents  its  at- 
tractions, and  there,  too,  sparkling  wine  is  considered  an 
indispensable  requisite  for  the  occasion.  The  ruby  cup 
goes  the  rounds,  and  the  unnatural  light  is  kindled  in 
the  eye,  an  unwonted  ardor  is  imparted  to  conversation, 
and  the  general  hilarity  betokens  the  power  of  that 


74 


INTEMPEEAKCE, 


whicli  is  upon  them.  These  things  become  rooted  in 
the  social  system  until  they  are  a prevalent  evil.  The 
customs  of  fashionable  society  stamp  them  with  a dignity 
and  importance  which  the  majority  come  to  feel  they 
must  imitate,  or  forfeit  their  claims  to  respectable  stand- 
ing, not  dreaming  that  the  imitation  threatens  those 
claims  more  disastrously  than  the  neglect  of  them  could 
possibly  do. 

It  has  been  customary,  in  years  past,  for  the  fashion- 
able circles  of  the  city,  and  of  the  country  too,  to  open 
their  doors  on  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  and  extend 
the  hospitalities  of  their  homes  to  their  numerous  friends. 
Men  from  every  profession  turn  out  to  do  honor  to  the 
reception  of  many  a distinguished  and  generous  hostess ; 
and  congratulations  are  exchanged  over  the  dainty  wine- 
cup  very  politely,  and  sometimes,  it  may  be,  heartily. 
This  is  repeated  again  and  again  through  the  da)',  here 
and  there  a little,  until  they  seek  their  rooms  at  night 
flushed,  excited,  dispirited  beings,  more  inclined  to 
drown  their  discomfort  in  a fresh  draught  than  to  seek 
to  free  themselves  from  it  by  a total  refrain.  In  a recent 
discussion  of  a certain  committee  among  the  officials 
at  Washington,  one  of  the  honored  disputants  thus 
spoke  : — 

- “I  heard  last  night  a statement  from  one  of  the  Creek 
Indians.  There  the  United  States  has  a law  with  a 
severe  penalty  for  selling  liquor  to  the  Indians.  This 
man,  well  educated,  of  five  and  thirty  years  of  age, 
stated  that  in  all  their  community  he  scarcely  saw  a 
di’unken  man  ; that  once  in  a while,  as  they  went  down 
on  the  line  of  the  railroad,  one  would  be  tempted,  but, 
as  a general  rule,  there  was  no  part  of  their  whole  terri- 
tory where  a drop  of  intoxicating  liquor  could  be  found  ; 
and  that,  if  a man  brought  in  a keg  or  bottle  of  it,  and 
it  could  be  found,  it  was  immediately  destroyed.  And 


YOUNG  LADY  OFFEKING  HER  LOVER  WINE. 


THE  RESULT. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


77 


this  man  stood  up  as  a specimen  of  a savage  who  had 
grown  up  without  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  for  he 
said,  — 

“‘To  this  hour,  there  has  never  a drop  of  alcoholic 
drink  passed  my  lips,  and  I never  was  really  tempted 
but  once  in  my  life,  and  that  was  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  three  years  ago,  when  our  delegation  was  taken 
there.  We  were  invited  to  a gentleman’s  house  and  into 
his  parlor,  and  the  lady  of  the  house  passed  round  a 
waiter  with  Avine-glasses,  and  came  to  me  and  offered 
me  a glass  of  wine,  and  I for  the  moment  was  tempted.’ 
It  was  a lady  in  an  elegant  house  in  New  York.  ‘ But,’ 
said  he,  ‘ I thanked  her,  and  said  I would  prefer  a glass 
of  water.’  ” 

Had  all  our  young  men  the  moral  courage  of  the  In- 
dian, there  would  be  little  to  fear , but  most  of  them 
are  unwilling  to  offend  the  fair  lady  Avho  so  graciously 
offers  it,  though  their  judgment  condemns  the  custom, 
and  they  know  it  is  tightening  the  chains  that  bind  them 
to  a fearful  habit.  Sad  and  humiliating  as  the  confes- 
sion may  be,  it  is  too  true  that  ladies  are  responsible  for 
many  a poor  drunkard’s  beginning.  They  do  it  in  this 
way,  under  the  cover  of  politeness  and  the  sanction  of 
fashion.  Young  ladies  and  gentlemen  mingle  together 
in  rides  and  various  amusements,  and,  rather  than  wound 
the  sensitive  gallantry  of  their  attendants,  the  girls  will 
sip  of  the  wine,  and  thus  strengthen  the  propensity  in 
their  brothers  and  friends. 

A party  of  college  students  invited  some  young  ladies 
to  take  a ride  to  a neighboring  town  for  an  evening’s 
enjoyment.  The  contents  of  the  flowing  bowl  were 
deemed  necessary  to  promote  it.  They  all  drank  of  it, 
and  before  they  could  reach  home  their  jollity  attracted 
the  attention  and  merited  the  rebuke  of  every  lover  of 
sobriety  in  their  way. 


78 


INTEMPERANCE, 


“ O thou  invisible  spirit  of  wine  ! if  thou  hast  no 
name  to  be  known  by,  let  us  call  thee  — Devil.”  So 
sang  Shakspeare  long  ago ; and  let  any  one  take  his 
stand-point  from  American  social  life  and  manners,  he 
would  utter  the  same  exclamation  with  equal  empha- 
sis now.  The  beverage  has  a large  place  at  the  tables 
of  the  wealth}^  and  no  entertainment  can  be  given  in 
honor  of  distinguished  personages  or  occasions  but  the 
toasts  and  sentiments  must  find  their  point  in  the  cheery 
wine.  It  speaks  but  poorly  for  the  moral  courage  of 
men  that  they  will  not  froAvn  upon  the  custom,  when 
they  know  it  to  be  injurious  to  the  highest  interests  of 
those  concerned.  There  is  only  now  and  then  one  who 
is  strong  enough  to  stand  up,  and  openly  adhere  to  his 
convictions  of  right,  when  the  temptations  of  these  flat- 
tering circumstances  surround  him.  Henry  "Wilson,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  "Vice-President  of  the  nation,  was 
such  a man,  and  the  people  honor  him  for  the  integrity 
of  his  principles,  and  the  manliness  and  decision  of  his 
course  at  the  beginning.  Twenty  years  ago  he  went  to 
"VVashington  with  a petition  to  Congress  from  the  people 
of  his  native  state.  Although  comparative!}'  young,  his 
rising  fame  had  singled  him  out  as  one  eminently  fitted 
for  the  important  commission.  W^hile  there,  he  received 
an  invitation  to  dine  with  John  Quincy  Adams.  His 
name  had  long  been  associated  with  the  highest  offices 
in  the  country,  and  it  was  no  small  honor  to  the  newlv- 
fledged  statesman  to  be  counted  worthy  of  a place 
among  the  established  dignitaries  of  the  land.  He  had 
been  poor,  and  was  then  a mechanic  in  moderate  circum- 
stances, and  altogether  unused  to  the  ways  and  appear- 
ances of  official  dignity  and  style,  and  his  name  and 
place  he  had  yet  to  win.  Great  men  sat  at  the  table  — 
the  greatest  in  the  land ; and  should  not  the  youthful 
aspirant  for  political  distinction  imitate  the  example  of 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


79 


his  superiors  ? The  trying  moment  came  when  Mr. 
Adams  extended  to  him  the  invitation,  — 

“ Will  you  drink  a glass  of  wine  with  me,  sir  ? ” 

Temperance  was  one  of  the  acknowledged  virtues  of 
the  young  man.  He  had  planted  himself  firmly  against 
everything  that  could  intoxicate.  But  the  eyes  of  many 
greater  than  he  were  upon  him,  and  would  it  be  best  to 
risk  his  reputation  upon  so  small  a thing  as  the  refusal 
of  a glass  of  wine  ? It  was  not  easy  to  decline  such  a 
request  from  his  venerable  host.  Those  about  him,  older 
and  in  some  respects  much  wiser  than  himself,  drank,  and 
it  all  conspired  to  produce  embarrassment ; but  amid  his 
blushes  and  hesitation  his  manhood  asserted  itself,  and 
he  replied,  — 

“ Sir,  I never  take  wine.” 

It  has  been  said  that  Massachusetts  heard  that  answer, 
and  set  him  down  for  a trusty  servant  forever  after. 
Whatever  influence  the  act  may  have  had  upon  the 
brilliant  assemblage  at  the  time,  it  has  found  its  place 
among  the  incidents  of  history,  and  made  his  name,  to- 
gether with  the  subsequent  consistency  of  his  conduct 
in  this  direction,  a power  to  the  cause  of  temperance 
everywhere. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  wine  is  the  least  ob- 
jectionable of  all  the  so-called  exhilarating  drinks ; that 
it  is  the  purest,  the  most  healthful  and  innocent  bever- 
age, aside  from  that  which  nature  itself  has  provided, 
that  can  be  had.  They  feel  comparatively  safe  in  its 
indulgence.  But  who  does  not  know  that,  in  these  days 
of  modern  avarice,  there  is  scarcely  anything  left  that  is 
pure  ? Addison  told  us  long  ago  of  philosophers  who 
were  daily  employed  in  the  transmutation  of  liquors, 
and,  “by  the  power  of  magical  drugs  and  incantations, 
raising,  under  the  streets  of  London,  the  choicest  prod- 
ucts of  the  hills  and  valleys  of  France,  squeezing  claret 


80 


INTEJMPERANCE, 


out  of  the  sloe,  and  drawing  champagne  out  of  an 
apple.”  The  present  system  of  adulteration  leaves 
nothing  untouched.  Quoting  from  one  having  author- 
ity, he  says,— 

“ Who  -does  not  know  that  nine  tenths  of  the  wine 
consumed  is  but  brandy,  or  something  worse,  under  an- 
other name  ? In  France  and  other  European  countries 
are  extensive  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  all 
the  choicest  varieties  of  wines  ; and  you  may  as  well 
know  that,  when  you  have  paid  a round  price  for  wines 
imported  direct  from  the  wine-growing  districts  and  in 
original  packages,  you  are  yet  most  likely  paying  for 
what  never  smelt  a grape.  I do  not  say,”  he  contin- 
ues, “ that  there  are  no  pure  wines ; but  I say  that  adul- 
teration is  the  law,  and  purity  the  exception,  and  that 
wdnes  are  so  skilfully  ‘ doctored  ’ with  well-selected 
drugs  as  to  escape  even  chemical  tests  as  to  their  qual- 
ity. An  able  writer  goes  so  far  as  to  affirm  that  ‘ wine 
has  become  a myth,  a shadow,  a very  Eurydice  of  life. 
There  is  no  such  thing,  we  verily  believe,  as  honest  grape- 
juice  ivine  remaining ; nothing  hut  a vile  compound  of 
poisonous  drugs  and  impurely  obtained  alcohol.  And  all 
our  beautiful  Anacreontics  are  merely  fables,  like  the 
rest ; for  wine  hath  died  out  from  the  world,  and  the 
laboratory  is  now  the  vineyard.'  ” 

It  is  said  “ that  there  is  perhaps  nearly  a hundred 
times  as  much  Port  wine  (so  called  from  Oj^orto)  sold 
and  drank  as  can  be  made  from  all  the  grapes  raised  in 
the  region  of  Oporto,  including  the  whole  Douro  Val- 
ley.” And  another  writer  declares  that,  “if  the  Douro 
River  were  a thousand  miles  long,  instead  of  only  sixty, 
it  could  not  furnish  grapes  enough  to  make  all  this  ocean 
of  ‘ Port’  wine.  The  whole  world  of  fashionable  topers, 
invalids,  and  imbeciles  are  drinking  wine  made  out  of 
the  little  handful  of  grapes  grown  on  the  banks  of  a 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


81 


small  creek  in  Portugal ! The  miracle  of  feeding  five 
thousand  souls  from  ‘five  loaves  anjl  a few  small  fishes,’  ” 
he  says,  “is  as  nothing  compared  to  this.” 

This  is  only  one  feature  of  the  ease,  only  one  branch 
of  the  trade,  and  that  foreign.  But  our  own  country  is 
pronounced  the  largest  “ wine-growing  district  ” in  the 
world  ! It  is  asserted  that  “ here  are  furnished  a million 
times  more  baskets  of  champagne  (with  exact  imitation 
of  foreign  brands)  than  are  put  up  of  the  pure  juice  in 
all  the  champagne  districts  of  Europe ! By  passing  the 
oil  of  whiskey  through  carbon,  a Madeira  is  made,  at  a 
profit  of  five  hundred  per  cent.,  which  few  can  tell  from 
the  genuine.”  Madeira  grows  thirty  thousand  barrels  of 
wine  yearly,  while  America  alone  boasts  of  the  annual 
consumption  of  fifty  thousand  barrels  of  the  same  arti- 
cle. These  wines  are  produced  at  a veiy  trifling  cost  by 
the  use  of  neutral  spirits,  or  even  with  “ whiskey,  vine- 
gar, sulphuric  acid,  beet-root,  alum,  lead,  logwood,  pot- 
ash, cider,  copperas,  and  the  like.”  Of  these  and  other 
wines,  the  city  of  New  York  manufactures  to  the  value 
of  eight  million  dollars  every  year , and  these  go  out  to 
be  employed  largely  in  the  mere  formation  of  intemper- 
ate habits,  that  by  and  by  must  and  will  have  something 
stronger  for  their  support. 

“ It  is  a notorious  fact,”  says  one  of  the  daily  journals, 
“ that  even  the  California  champagnes  have  been  driven 
from  the  market  by  ‘ doctored  wines,’  or  have  themselves 
been  ‘ doctored’  to  meet  the  popular  demand.” 

A wine  dealer,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  penitential  sor- 
row, made  the  acknowledgment,  on  his  death-bed,  that 
“he  had  often  seen  his  customers  wasting  away  around 
him,  poisoned  by  that  he  had  meted  out  to  them ; and 
that  same  vrine,  which  was  the  cause  of  their  decline,  was 
often  prescribed  by  their  physicians  as  a means , of  their 
recovery.” 


82 


IN  TEMPERANCE, 


There  is  a lamentable  ignorance  among  the  mass  of 
the  people  upon  this,  whole  subject.  If,  by  any  enlight- 
ening process  whatever,  the  scales  can  be  made  to  fall 
from  their  eyes,  a brighter  and  better  condition  of  things 
will  be  inaugurated,  unless  men  persistently  take  the 
position  which  compels  us  to  say,  “None  are  so  blind  as 
those  that  will  not  see.” 

The  voice  of  antiquity  is  clear  and  distinct  upon  this 
question.  Far  back  in  the  history  of  the  earlv  ages,  long 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  a Chinese  emperor  declared, 
“ in  a solemn  assembly  of  states,  that  wine  must  be  for- 
bidden to  his  svibjects,  because  it  was  the  fruitful  source 
of  evil,  and  all  manner  of  social  disturbance.”  In  the 
year  600,  Mohammed  prohibited  the  use  of  wdue  among 
his  followers,  “because  it  was  the  prolific  cause  of  vice 
and  crime.”  And  Plato  approved  “the  Carthaginian 
law  that  no  sort  of  wine  be  drunk  in  the  camp,  nor  au}'- 
thing  save  water,”  by  reason  of  its  inevitable  tendency 
to  produce  drunkenness  and  insubordination.  The  laws 
of  Sparta  were  made  rigid  on  this  point,  and  the  most 
stringent  measures  resorted  to,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
drinking  of  wine.  “ Slaves  were  made  drunk,  and  ex- 
hibited in  this  condition  to  youth,  in  order  to  inspire  them 
with  abhorrence  of  this  filthy  vice.” 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  all  this  comes  down  to  us 
from  centuries  when  the  people  were  vastly  better  fitted 
to  give  decided  issue  upon  the  power  of  wine  to  promote 
or  hinder  temperance,  for  to  them  even  the  art  of  distil- 
lation was  unknown. 

There  has  been  a widely-spread  notion  that  native 
wine  is  not  intoxicating  in  its  nature ; that  in  wine- 
producing  countries,  where  it  Avas  used  as  a common 
and  almost  exclusive  beverage,  intemperance  was  com- 
paratively unknown.  But  the  testimcny  of  modern 
travellers  has  nearly  exploded  the  theory.  If  it  be 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


83 


not  so  apparent  to  the  American  as  he  is  passing  through 
these  countries,  it  is  because  these  are  shut  out  from  the 
higher  and  better  conditioned  class  ; and  in  all  the  pub- 
lic means  of  conveyance,  and  in  all  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  is  naturally  thrown,  he  does  not  come  in  con- 
tact with  this  phase  of  life.  Prof.  Butler  lived  several 
years  in  Europe,  both  in  city  and  country,  and  was 
therefore  better  qualified  to  give  a correct  judgment  of 
the  matter  than  those  who  formed  their  impressions 
from  a hasty  transit  through  the  region. 

“We  have  heard  Americans  assert,”  he  says,  “that 
there  is  no  drunkenness  in  any  country  where  wine 
takes  the  place  of  stronger  liquors.  Now,  we  have 
sifted  this  matter  thoroughly,  both  in  Italy  and  Switzer- 
land, and  are  bound  to  deny  the  truth  of  this  statement. 
Why  is  it,  then,  that  so  little  drunkenness  is  seen  by 
strangers  ? Because  Italian  laborers  rarely  begin  their 
potations  until  the  day’s  work  is  over.  They  carouse 
from  about  nightfall  until  midnight,  when,  money  spent 
or  credit  exhausted,  they  reel  home,  and  the  cries  and 
groans  of  wives  and  children  soon  tell  of  the  fury  and 
brutality  which  mark  the  drunkard  the  world  over. 
Thinking  it  probable  that  brandy  did  most  of  the  mis- 
chief, I inquired  as  to  this  point.  In  every  case,  my 
questions  caused  surprise,  and  the  answers  were  always 
the  same : ‘ No,  no  ! it  is  wine  — always  wine.’  ” 

Rev.  E.  S.  Lacy,  of  San  Francisco,  spent  several 
months  in  Switzerland,  and  thus  writes : — 

“ I have  just  spent  six  months  in  a country  place, 
where  the  people  do  nothing  but  work  in  the  vineyards ; 
where  wine  is  cheap  and  pure,  and  far  more  the  bever- 
age of  the  laboring  classes  than  water ; where  none 
think  of  making  a dinner  without  a bottle  of  wine  ; 
where  all  the  scenery  is  of  the  most  elevating  and  enno- 
bling character.  Here  more  intoxication  was  obvious  than 


84 


INTEMPERANCE, 


in  any  other  place  it  was  ever  my  lot  to  live  in.  On  holi- 
days and  festal  occasions,  you  might  suppose  all  the 
male  population  drunk,  so  great  are  the  numbers  in  this 
deranged  and  beastly  condition.  On  Sunday  afternoons 
young  men  go  shouting  along  the  streets.  Intelligent 
Germans  inform  me  that  tliis  is  the  great  social  evil  of 
their  country,  a place  where  wine,  if  not  ver}^  cheap,  is 
never  adulterated,  and  where  great  quantities  of  it  are 
drunk.” 

Louis  Philippe,  the  King  of  France,  in  an  interview 
with  one  of  our  own  countrymen  in  1838,  described  the 
intemperance  of  his  people  as  very  great,  and  declared 
that  wine  was  its  producing  cause. 

The  Duke  of  Orleans  made  the  statement  to  Mr. 
Delavan,  the  person  referred  to,  and  also  said  that,  in 
those  districts  where  the  most  wine  was  made,  there 
was  the  greatest  wretchedness,  and  the  most  frequent 
appeals  to  government  for  aid.” 

When  Horace  Greeley  was  travelling  in  France,  he 
made  these  observations  from  her  ga}^  capital : — 

“ Wine  will  intoxicate  — does  intoxicate.  That  there 
are  confirmed  drunkards  in  Paris  and  throughout  France 
is  notorious  and  undeniable.  You  can  hardly  open  a 
French  newspaper  that  does  not  contain  some  account 
of  a robbery  perpetrated  upon  some  person  stupefied  by 
over-drinking ; a police  case  growing  out  of  a quarrel 
over  the  wine-cup  ; or  a culprit,  when  asked  to  say  why 
the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced 
against  him,  reply,  ‘ I was  drunk  when  this  happened, 
and  know  nothing  of  the  matter.’  That  journejunen 
are  commonly  less  fitted  for  and  less  inclined  to  work 
on  Monday  than  on  other  days  of  the  week,  is  as  noto- 
rious here  as  it  ever  was  in  any  rum-drinking  city  that 
could  be  named.” 

The  testimony  of  other  travellers,  equally  prominent 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


85 


and  reliable,  all  concur  in  establishing  the  same  conclu- 
sion. We  give  but  one  more  observation  with  reference 
to  the  French  people,  and  that  is  from  the  pen  of 
Charles  Dickens  : — 

“ The  wine-shops  are  the  colleges  and  chapels  of  the 
poor  in  France.  History,  morals,  politics,  jurisprudence, 
and  literature,  in  iniquitous  forms,  are  all  taught  in  these 
colleges  and  chapels,  where  professors  of  evil  continually 
deliver  those  lessons,  and  where  hymns  are  sung  nightly 
to  the  demons  of  demoralization.  In  these  haunts  of 
the  poor,  theft  is  taught  as  the  morality  of  property, 
falsehood  as  speech,  and  assassination  as  the  justice  of 
the  people.  It  is  in  the  wine  shop  the  cabman  is  taught 
to  think  it  heroic  to  shoot  the  middle-class  man  who  dis- 
putes his  fare.  It  is  in  the  wine  shop  the  workman  is 
taught  to  admire  the  man  who  stabs  his  faithless  mis- 
tress. It  is  in  the  wine  shop  the  doom  is  pronounced  of 
the  employer  who  lowers  the  pay  of  the  employed.  The 
wine  shops  breed,  in  a physical  atmosphere  of  malaria 
and  a moral  pestilence  of  envy  and  vengeance,  the  men 
of  crime  and  revolution.  Hunger  is  proverbially  a bad 
counsellor,  but  drink  is  worse.” 

A voice  comes  to  us  from  Persian  lands,  in  the  testi- 
mony of  those  who  have  lived  and  labored  there,  and 
are  familiar  with  all  the  customs  and  manners  of  the 
native  population.  Mr.  Labaree,  who  has  long  been  a 
missionary  in  that  land,  writes  to  this  country  after 
this  manner : — 

“ If  I had  any  sentiments  favorable  to  the  moderate 
use  of  wine  when  I left  America,  my  observations  dur- 
ing the  seven  years  I have  resided  in  this  paradise  of 
vineyards  have  convinced  me  that  the  principle  of  total 
abstinence  is  the  only  safeguard  against  the  great  social 
and  religious  evils  that  How  from  tne  practice  of  wine 
drinking.” 


86 


INTEMPERANCE, 


Describing  the  scenes  between  vintage  and  Lent,  he 
says,  — 

“ As  you  might  suppose,  drunkenness  in  its  various 
grades  becomes  too  common  to  excite  surprise.  Priests 
apologize  with  tlie  greatest  coolness  for  irregularity  of 
conduct  b}’"  stating  that  they  were,  at  the  time,  under 
the  influence  of  wine. 

“ Carnival  week,  preceding  Lent,  is  especially  noted 
for  the  amount  of  wine  consumed.  The  devotees  of  the 
boAvl  now  give  themselves  up  to  the  greatest  excesses. 
Midnight  orgies,  low  songs,  and  boisterous  quarrels  re- 
sound from  almost  every  street.  Multitudes,  at  other 
times  moderate  drinkers,  are  drawn  almost  irresistibly 
into  this  vortex  of  drunken  revelry.  A fellow-mission- 
ary  tells  me  that  on  visiting,  at  the  carnival  season,  last 
year,  a large  Christian  village  of  eight  or  nine  hundred 
inhabitants,  he  found,  on  inquiry,  that  from  two  to  three 
hundred  were  drunk,  atid  that  some  one  Avas  in  similar 
condition  in  ail  but  about  twenty  houses  out  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty.”  And  he  adds,  “ There  is  scarcely  a 
community  to  be  found  Avhere  the  blighting  influences 
of  intemperance  are  not  seen  in  families  distressed  and 
ruined,  property  squandered,  character  destroyed,  and 
lives  lost.” 

Dr.  Holland  sums  i;p  the  whole  thing  Avhen  he  writes, 
from  the  sunny  land  of  the  vine,  his  convictions  upon 
this  important  subject.  These  ideas  have  been  embod- 
ied in  various  forms  into  the  temperance  literature  of 
the  country ; but  they  furnish  so  strong  a declaration 
against  the  utility  of  domestic  wine,  and  its  power  to 
diminish  the  evil  of  intemperance,  we  give  it  a place 
here. 

“ There  is  no  question,”  he  says,  “ that  the  people 
would  be  better,  healthier,  and  happier,  and  much  more 
prosperous,  if  there  were  not  a vineyard  in  the  canton. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  * 87 

We  have  been  told  in  'America — and  I fully  believed  it — - 
that,  if  a people  could  be  supplied  with  a cheap  wine,  thej^ 
would  not  get  drunk ; that  the  natural  desire  for  some 
sort  of  stimulant  would  be  gratified  in  a way  that  would 
be  not  only  harmless  to  morals,  but  conducive  to  health. 
I am  thoroughly  • undeceived.  The  people  drink  their 
cheap  white  wine  here  to  drunkenness.  A boozier  set 
than  hang  around  the  multitudinous  caf^s  here  it  would 
be  hard  to  find  in  any  American  city ; even  here  they 
enjoy  the  license  of  the  Maine  law.  The  grand  differ- 
ence in  the  drunkenness  of  an  American  and  Swiss  city 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  man  Avho  has  wine  in  him  is 
good-natured,  and  the  man  who  is  equally  charged  with 
whiskey  is  a demon.  There  is  no  murdering,  no  fight- 
ing, no  wrangling.  The  .excitement  is  worked  off  in 
singing,  shouting,  and  all  sorts  of  insane  jabber.  Then 
the  steady,  old  white-wine  topers  come  into  blossom. 
If  you  can  imagine  a cauliflower  of  the  color  of  the 
ordinary  red  cabbage,  you  can  achieve  a very  adequate 
conception  of  faces  that  are  not  uncommon  in  all  this 
wine-growing  region.  So  this  question  is  settled  in  my 
mind.  Cheap  wine  is  not  the  cure  of  intemperance. 
The  people  here  are  just  as  intemperate  as  they  are  in 
America ; and,  what  is  more,  there  is  no  public  senti- 
ment that  checks  intemperance  in  the  least.  The  wine 
is  fed  freely  to  children,  and  by  all  classes  is  regarded  as 
a perfectly  legitimate  drink.  Failing  to  find  the  solu- 
tion of  the  temperance  question  in  the  Maine  law,  fail- 
ing to  perceive  it  in  the  various  modes  and  movements 
of  reform,  I,  with  many  others,  have  looked  with  hope 
to  find  it  in  a cheap  and  comparatively  harmless  wine ; 
but,  for  one,  I can  look  in  this  direction  hopefully  no 
longer.  I firmly  believe  that  the  wines  of  Switzerland 
are  of  no  use,  except  to  keep  out  whiskey,  and  that  the 
advantages  of  the  wine  over  the  whiskey  are  not  very 
6 


88 


INTEMPEKAXCE, 


obvious.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  best  men  in  Switzer- 
land — those  who  have  the  highest  good  of  the  people 
at  heart  — that  the  increased  growth  of  the  grape  has 
been  steadily  and  correspondingly  attended  by  the  in- 
crease of  drunkenness.  They  lament  the  planting  of  a 
new  vineyard  as  we  at  home  regret  the  opening  of  a new 
grog  shop.  They  expect  no  good  of  it  to  anybody. 
They  know,  and  deeply  feel,  that  the  whole  wine-pro- 
ducing enterprise  is  charged  with  degradation  for  their 
country.  A large  amount  of  land  in  this  canton  of 
Vaud  is  surrendered  to  the  cultivation  of  the  gi’ape  ; 
and,  as  the  wine  of  Switzerland  is  never  heard  of  out 
of  Switzerland,  it  is  plain  that  it  is  all  drunk  here.  In- 
deed, I have  been  assured  that  the  wine  produced  in 
this  canton  is  drunk  mainly  in  the  canton  itself.  Now, 
from  Villeneuve  to  Morges  — a distance  of  twenty-five 
miles,  as  I guess  somewhat  at  random  — the  entire  lake- 
side, averaging  half  a mile  in  width,  is  a vineyard.  One 
can  say,  with  literal  truth, ' that,  throughout  the  entire 
territory  I describe  to  you,  no  crop  but  grapes  is  grown. 
For  the  last  three  weeks,  the  whole  working  population, 
men  and  women,  have  been  in  these  vineyards  gathering 
the  crop.  The  teams  are  employed  in  transporting  the 
immensely  large  casks  of  new  wine  from  the  presses  to 
the  cellars  of  their  owners,  to  the  vaults  of  the  owners 
who  have  purchased  it,  and  to  the  railroad  depot,  for 
transportation  to  the  storehouses  of  speculators  in  other 
quarters. 

“ There  is  an  endeavor  on  the  part  of  these  people  to 
throw  a romantic  interest  around  their  vintage.  The 
casks  go  through  the  streets  with  gay  bouquets  of  flow- 
ers in  their  bung-holes  ; but,  from  what  I have  seen  here 
of  the  effect  of  wine,  the  show  is  all  a sorry  farce. 

■“I  was  told,  before  leaving  America,  that  I should  be 
obliged  to  drink  wine  or  beer  in  Europe.  One  good 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  SS 

clerical  friend  assured  me  that  I could  not  get  through 
Great  Britain  safely  without  drinking  beer.  As  I did  not 
like  beer,  the  prospect  was  not  pleasant.  Indeed,  I felt 
about  as  badly  discouraged  as  Brigham  Young  declares 
he  did  when  the  duty  of  polygamy  was  made  known  to 
him  by  heavenly  revelation.  W ell,  I did  not  drink  beer, 
and  I got  through  Great  Britain  very  comfortably  in- 
deed. None  of  my  party  drank  beer,  and  all  survived, 
not  only,  but  improved,  upon  cold  water  — the  terribly 
poisonous  water  of  Great  Britain  ! In  Paris  I took  the 
ordinary  red  wine.  In  Switzerland  I continued  it  with 
great  moderation,  until  I was  thoroughly  satisfied  that 
every  glass  I drank  damaged  not  only  my  health,  but  my 
comfort.  Now  I drink  no  wine  at  all ; and  that  member 
of  my  party  who  has  drank  nothing  but  water  from  the 
time  of  leaving  America,  has  experienced  not  one  parti- 
cle of  inconvenience  from  the  practice.  We  have  all 
concluded  that  wine-drinking  in  Europe  is  just  as  un- 
necessary as  in  America,  and  that  there  was  never  a 
greater  mistake  than  the  supposition  that  alcohol  in  any 
form  is  necessary  as  a daily  beverage  for  any  man  or 
woman.” 

What  is  true  with  reference  to  the  subject  is  equally 
true  in  our  own  land.  A voice  comes  to  us  from  the 
sunny  climes  of  the  grape  in  our  own  country,  testifying 
to  the  same  thing.  At  a state  convention  of  the  friends 
of  temperance  in  San  Francisco,  in  1866,  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted  : — 

“ Resolved,  That  we  consider  the  project  of  banishing 
intemperance  from  California  by  introducing  the  general 
use  of  wine  as  a beverage,  to  be  a delusion  and  a snare.. 
Even  were  it  possible  to  exclude  ardent  spirits,  and  sub- 
stitute' the  fermented  juice  of  the  grape,  there  is  no 
reason  to  look  for  any  other  results  than  followed  in  the 
ages  of  antiquity,  when  wine  was  the  only  intoxicating 


90 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


beverage,  and  when  tbe  drunkenness  of  wine-drinking 
nations  provoked  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  denuncia- 
tions of  Holy  Writ.” 

Then  and  there  they  denounced  the  manufacture  of 
wine  “ as  destructive  to  the  highest  political  and  reli- 
gious interests  of  the  commonwealth.” 

Said  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stone,  — 

“ I had  entertained  a sort  of  hope  that  the  manufac- 
ture of  pure  wines,  and  their  introduction  into  general 
use,  would  crowd  out  the  gross  and  strong  liquors,  and 
diminish  intemperance.  I am  now  fully  convinced  that 
this  hope  was  groundless  and  delusive.  -It  is  in  evidence 
that  full  two  thirds  of  all  the  wine  is  converted  by  the 
manufacturers  into  brandy.  It  also  appears  that  in  the 
wine-growing  districts  intemperance  is  on  the  increase, 
extending  even  to  the  youth  of  both  sexes.  There  is  no 
loay  hut  to  take  ground  against  the  production  of  grapes 
for  all  such  manufacture.  Tins  touches  a large  and 
growing  pecuniary  interest,  and  will  provoke  strenuous 
opposition  ; hut  we  must  save  this  state,  if  it  can  he  done, 
from  such  investment  of  capital  and  labor,  and  from  the 
unavoidable  result  of  drunkenness,  profligacy,  and  crime.” 

An  editor  of  a California  paper  thus  writes  : — 

“ Through  some  parts  of  these  mountains,  as  well  as 
in  the  valleys,  there  is  arising  one  species  of  production 
fraught  with  dire  evil  to  the  producers  and  the  country. 
It  is  that  of  wine-making.  Abeady  wine  has  become  as 
nheap  as  milk,  and  is  as  freely  drank,  till  mam’  once 
sober  men  are  growing  habitually  intoxicated.  In  one 
wine-growing  neighborhood,  we  are  told  that  young 
girls  seventeen  years  of  age  reeled  through  the  streets 
under  the  intoxication  of  pure  California  wine.  Hen 
once  of-  worth  now  are,  through  wine,  lost  to  society, 
and  becoming  a fear  and  disgrace  to  their  families.  One 
leading  man  enumerated  to  us  five  of  his  acquaintances 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY, 


91 


who,  once  noble  men,  are  now  to  be  called  drunkards 
through  wine.  Many  of  the  temperance  men  who  fol- 
lowed the  wine-growing  delusion  are  now  returning  to 
their  proper  senses.  We  know  of  some  whose  sons  are 
drunkards  ; of  others  who  have  fallen  victims,  themselves 
to  the  curse  of  appetite.  We  are  not  romancing  in  these 
statements  ; we  know  whereof  we  affirm,  and  can  name 
not  a few  who  were  forced  to  choose  between  the  alter- 
natives of  a drunken  family  or  an  abandonment  of  the 
wine  business.  One  of  these  related  to  us  personally 
this  fact  in  these  words  : ‘ Myself  and  my  whole  family 
were  fast  becoming  drunkards  upon  our  wine ; and  the 
daily  quantity  drunk  by  each  increased  so  rapidly  as  to 
threaten  to  consume  the  profits  of  the  business.’  ” 
Notwithstanding  this  and  a host  of  similar  testimony, 
there  are  those  who  yet  fail  to  be  convinced,  and  fly 
from  it  all  to  the  shadow  of  Holy  Writ,  thinking  that 
there  they  are  shielded  from  the  attacks  of  the  would- 
be  temperance  reformer,  who  would  rob  them,  as  they 
think,  of  their  cherished  pleasures.  Although  they  be 
confronted  with  the  declaration  there  that  “ wine  is  a 
mocker,”  they  pass  that  by,  to  linger  at  the  marriage 
feast  in  Cana,  whence  an  incontestable  argument  in 
their  favor  is  supposed  to  be  drawn.  If  miraculous 
agency  was  deemed  worthy  to  supply  the  deficiency  on 
this  cheerful  Occasion  by  the  highest  of  all  authority, 
then  was  it  not  unquestionably  a good  thing  ? There 
are  elaborate  and  learned  discussions  by  men  of  reputa- 
tion and  talent  to  prove  that  the  wines  used  on  this  and 
other  solemn  occasions  were  not  fermented  wines  at  all ; 
that,  when  Christ  used  it  as  a significant  emblem  at  the 
last  touching  memorial  with  his  disciples,  it  was  the 
simple  “fruit  of  the  vine,”  without  any  intoxicating  ele- 
ment at  all.  We  propose  not  to  enlarge  here  upon  this 
topic.  There  is  something  in  the  idea  that  “ the  word 


9;^ 


INTEMPERANCE, 


‘ Wne  ’ occurs  in  the  Bible  two  hundred  and  sixtj-one 
times.  One  hundred  and  twenty-one  times  it  contains 
warnings ; seventy-one  times  it  contains  warnhigs  and 
reproofs  ; twelve  times  it  denounces  it  as  poisonous  and 
venornous;  and  five  times  it  totally  prohibits  it.”  It 
sums  up  the  whole  thing  in  one  broad  and  sweeping 
assertion  — “No  di-unkard  shall  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.” 

W e have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  wine  and  its  influence 
because  a love  for  the  weaker  leads  to  the  stronger  — 
because  here  the  first  downward  step  is  so  often  taken 
in  the  path  that  leads,  in  the  end,  to  disaster  and  rmn. 
Dash  the  wine  opp-,  and  you  save  multitudes. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


93 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Ale  and  Beer. 


MANKIND  SEEK  SELF-GRATIFICATION.  — WILL  BEER  INTOXICATE  ? — 
“lost  or  stolen.”  — BEER  OP  GERMAN  ORIGIN.  — THE  BEER-LOV- 
ING NEIGHBOR.  “ THE  LITTLE  THING.” BEER  BILL  IN  ENGLAND.  

DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON.  — FRUIT  OF  INDULGENCE.  — BEER-BREWEES’ 
CONVICTION. 


Mankind  have  long  been  seeking  “ the  philosopher’s 
stone,”  that  should  turn  everything  into  “gold.”  They 
have  been  trying  to  find  something  that  would  make  ordi- 
nary hard  things  in  their  way  lighter,  easier,  and  more 
fanciful ; something  that  would  meet  all  their  wants  and 
passions,  their  desires  and  appetites,  so  as  td  cause  less 
trouble  to  conscience,  and  preserve  them  from  the  haunt- 
ing conviction  that  they  were  sacrificing  their  manhood 
to  a forbidden  indulgence.  So,  after  this  manner,  they 
have  been  trying  to  persuade  themselves  that  the  milder 
form  of  stimulant  might  minister  to  their  craving  neces- 
sities, and  yet  keep  them  in  the  path  of  safety,  and  ex- 
pose them  to  less  censure ; for  before  the  faculties  are 
benumbed  by  artificial  means,  the  good  opinion  of  fellow- 
men  is  a strong  incentive  to  action.  It  is  to  be  doubted 
if  man  experiences  keener  pangs  than  those  which  come 
to  him  in  the  first  knowledge  that  he  has  forfeited  the 
esteem  of  those  about  him  by  the  open  committal  of  that 
which  they  denounce.  For  fear  of  this  the  man  who 
loves  stimulating  drink  will  hesitate,  will  carefully  and 
cautiously  enter  the  secret  place,  and  drop  his  head  and 


94 


INTEMPEEANCE,  • 


avert  his  gaze  if  he  thinks  there  is  any  danger  of  recog- 
nition from  those  whom  he  would  have  remain  in  igno- 
rance of  his  deed.  For  this  reason,  men  who  would 
not  be  seen  drinking  a glass  of  brandy  will  unhesitat- 
ingly take  the  foaming  beer,  and  think  they  have  done 
a light  thing ; but  observation,  as  well  as  the  conclusions 
of  science,  fully  demonstrate  the  folly  of  those  who  im- 
agine that  ale  and  beer  are  among  the  wholesome  and 
inoffensive  drinks.  Like  many  other  inconsistent  <iues- 
tioners,  they  go  to  work  to  prove  the  question,  “ Will 
lager  beer  intoxicate?”  when  experience,  observation, 
and  testimony  have  decided  it  beyond  controversy.  “ As 
well  ask  me  if  two  and  two  make  four,”,  says  one.  It  is 
true  that  the  percentage  of  alcohol  in  this  is  smaller,  by 
far,  than  in  most  other  compositions  of  the  kind,  and  it 
takes  larger  quantities  to  insure  intoxication  ; but  never- 
theless the  spirit  is  there,  and  does  its  work.  A short 
time  since  the  following  striking  paragraph  appeared  in 
print : — 

“ Lost  or  Stolen. 

“ Through  the  agency  of  villains,  under  the  disguise 
of  friends,  the  undersigned  has  lost  within  the  few  past 
years  the  following  items  of  property,  viz. : — 

An  unencumbered  estate ; 

A vigorous  constitution ; 

A fair  moral  character  ; 

A good  standing  in  society  ; 

An  active,  healthful  conscience. 

Also,  at  the  same  time,  or  soon  after,  the  affection  of 
a wife,  of  children  and  friends.  The  miscreants  who 
have  thus  robbed  me  are  members  of  one  family.  Their 
names  are  Rum,  Gin,  Brandy,  Wine,  and  Ale.  Another 
base  fellow,  a recent  emigrant  from  Germany,  named 
Lager ^ it  is  supposed  had  a hand  in  the  robbery,  as  he  is 
much  in  the  company  of  the  above-named  brotherhood 
of  thieves,  and  appears  to  be  of  kindred  character.  The 
villains  are.  stiU  lurking  in  the  city.  Whoever  AviU  ap- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


95 


prehend  tliem  and  bring  the  cidprits  to  justice  shall 
receive  the  thanks  of  those  most  interested,  and  a cup 
of  cold  water.” 

This  beer  is  a drink  of  German  origin,  the  saloon  for 
its  vending  a distinguishing  vcharacteristic  of  their  coun- 
try. They  are  fitted  up  in  fine  style,  and  the  proprietors 
allure  a crowd  of  customers  by  the  attractions  of  music, 
by  spreading  tables  with  tempting  luxuries,  and  provid- 
ing for  every  form  of  gay  festivity.  Hither  the  people 
resort  continually,  and  on  the  Sabbath,  men,  women,  and 
children  fiock  to  these  scenes  of  hilarity,  and  may  be 
seen,  each  with  their  glass  of  beer,  in  the  various  stages 
of  excitement  which  the  drink  is  calculated  to  produce. 
Among  the  things  that  have  come  to  us  through  the  in- 
fluence of  German  immigration  is  the  re-production  of 
this  same  custom.  Wherever  a german  settlement  is 
found,  the  sign  of  beer  is  prominent.  They  take  the 
brewery  with  them  wherever  they  go,  and  it  is  heralded 
on  the  corners  of  all  the  streets.  There  they  act  over 
and  over  again  the  scenes  of  their  fatherland  ; and  they 
who  know  anything  about  it  know  that  the  end  thereof 
is  riot  and  confusion.  A beer-drinker  is  nothing  less 
than  an  intemperate  man.  His  appearance  indicates  the 
same  marks  of  dissipation  as  others.  There  is  the  same 
bloated  and  disfigured  aspect ; the  look  of  the  face  de- 
generates into  the  same  sensual  expression  as  is  written 
there  by  stronger  mixtures.  It  may  be  slower  in  doing 
its  Avork,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  essentially  the  same. 
Because  of  its  sIoav  working,  many  mistake  its  character 
altogether,  and  the  keg  of  beer  finds  its  way,  regularly, 
into  many  families  that  would  scorn  the  idea  of  bearing 
anything  else  but  a reputation  for  temperance.  Those 
in  the  lower  walks  of  life,  who  drink  largely  and  con- 
stantly, exhibit  the  same  disposition  that  the  intoxicated 
man  always  does.  A neighbor  of  the  AAU'iter  was  addicted 


96 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


to  the  habit  of  drinking,  and  it  was  almost  always  con- 
fined to  lager  beer.  The  contents  of  a beer  cask  would 
suffice  hut  for  a day  or  two,  and  at  the  times  of  these 
inordinate  indulgences,  he  was  in  the  lowest  depths  of 
intoxication.  Morose  in  his  family,  when  in  his  sober 
moments  he  was  remarkably  kind ; neglectful  of  his 
business,  when  otherwise  he  was  industrious  — and  alto- 
gether brutish  and  insensible.  The  glass  of  ale  and  the 
draught  of  beer,  prescribed  for  health,  and  drank  until 
it  is  considered  a daily  necessity,  have  kindled  an  iiTe- 
sistible  appetite  with  a great  many  — an  appetite  the 
insatiable  cravings  of  which  could  not  be  met  without 
something  far  stronger ; and  that  stronger  potion  has 
unmanned  the  individual  and  destroyed  the  man.  A 
clergyman  once  remarked,  “ One  of  the  smartest  5mung 
men  we  ever  raised  in  our  place  fell  out  of  the  midst  of 
his  college  course  a drunkard.  Why  ? He  took  lager 
beer.  Rank,  pride,  education,  elevated  society,  ambi- 
tion, and  religious  influences,  — every  motive  that  could 
lead  him  to  refrain,  — held  back  the  young  man  ; ” “ and 
who,”  he  says,  “ shall  measure  the  power  of  that  passion 
for  drink  which  ruined  Irim  ? ” 

“A  glass  of  ale  is  a ‘little  thing,’  a ‘small  affair,’  ” 
says  John  B.  Gough,  that  mighty  worker  in  the  cause 
of  temperance  ; “ but  I care  not  what  it  is  holds  a man, 
so  long  as  he  is  held  by  it.”  “ Some  men,”  he  says,  “ play 
with  this  ‘ little  thing  ’ until  they  are  in  the  position  of 
the  poor  fellow  outside  the  lines,  when  he  called  out, 
“ I’ve  got  a prisoner.”  “ Bring  him  in.”  “ He  won’t 
come.”  “Well,  then;  you  had  better  come  in  without 
him.”  “ He  won’t  let  me.” 

A certain  man  had  a son  who  became  so  addicted  to 
the  frequent  use  of  the  cup,  that  it  threatened  to  hold 
him  fast  in  its  slavish  chains ; for  there  is  that  beneath 
the  foaming  surface  that  is  like  unto  a binding  fetter  to 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


99 


the  body  and  soul  of  every  man  who  imbibes  so  freely. 
Awaking  to  the  consciousness  of  his  condition,  he  re- 
solved to  begin  the  work  of  reformation,  and  for  eighteen 
months  he  adhered  to  his  resolution,  and  his  friends 
exulted  in  the  hope  that  he  was  safe.  Happening  one 
day  to  be  at  a public  house,  where  he  saw  a clergyman 
call  for  a glass  of  beer,  the  sleeping  demon  within  him 
awoke,  and  he  said  to  himself,  “ If  he  can  take  a glass 
of  beer,  why  cannot  I?”  With  that  he  did  take,  and 
the  flood-gates  were  open  — the  power  of  resistance  was 
gone.  He  took  another,  and  another,  until  hope  and 
effort,  pride  and  ambition,  died  out,  and  he  became  a mis- 
erable sot,  and  his  death  was  the  death  of  the  drunkard. 

The  same  arguments  are  urged  with  reference  to 
beer  that  have  been  urged  in  connection  with  wine. 
Many  have  supposed  that  it  would  lighten  the  ravages 
of  intemperance  ; that  it  would  diminish  its  sad  results 
a thousand  fold,  because  its  quality  and  nature  were  less 
baneful.  The  English  Parliament  enacted  what  was 
termed  “ the  beer  bill,”  on  this  assumption,  in  1830. 
Some  of  the  strongest  minds  of  the  realm  supported  the 
measure,  with  the  avowed  conviction  that  it  would  fur- 
nish the  people  with  a “wholesome  beverage,”  and 
“preserve  their  morals  from  contamination.”  After  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  the  Duke  of  W ellington  declared  it 
to  be  “a  greater  achievement  than  any  of  his  military 
victories.”  But  the  result  of  its  action  was  sad  enough. 
In  less  than  a year  the  strongest  supporters  of  the  meas- 
ure were  surprised  by  the  sudden  and  general  demoral- 
ization produced.  Among  others,  the  Rev.  Sydney  Smith 
had  looked  to  the  passing  of  the  bill  as  one  of  great 
importance  — an  omen  for  good ; but  only  two  weeks 
after  it  came  into  effect,  he  wrote,  “ The  new  beer  bill 
has  begun  its  operations.  Everybody  is  drunk.  Those 
who  are  not  singing  are  sprawUny.  The  sovereign  peo- 


100 


INTEMPEEAiTCE, 


pie  are  in  a beastly  state.”  Another  writer  declares, 
that,  “ from  his  own  knowledge  he  could  positively  assert 
that  these  beer  shops  had  made  many  who  were  pre- 
viously sober  and  industrious  now  drunkards,  and  many 
mothers  had  also  become  tipplers.” 

Another  argument  of  the  beer  supporters  is,  that  its 
evolution  from  nourishing  grains  make  it  eminently  con- 
ducive in  repairing  the  waste  of  the  human  system,  but 
Professor  Chandler,  of  Columbia  College,  in  subjecting 
the  whole  to  a rigid  chemical  analysis,  has  dissipated  this 
theory,  and  shown  that  the  nutritive  qualities  of  its  dis- 
tilled condition  are  meagre  indeed. 

So,  in  whatever  light  we  look  at  it,  from  whatever 
point  of  observation  we  consider  it,  there  remains  noth- 
ing favorable  to  the  adoption  of  beer  as  a favorite  and 
wholesome  beverage.  All  theories  that  tend  to  this 
crumble  and  fall  before  the  tragic  scenes  of  history  and 
experiences.  If  any  doubt  it,  let  them  visit  the  shops 
and  the  saloons  where  this  liquid  draught  is  constantly 
dealt  out  and  consumed,  and  behold  the  invariable  and 
inevitable  tendenc}^  of  the  whole  thing.  Let  them  wit- 
ness the  bacchanalian  revelry  of  those  who  tarry  long  at 
the  beer,  and  then  say,  if  they  can,  wherein  lies  the 
innocence  and  harmlessness  of  the  drink.  It  is  there 
that  every  low  and  debasing  influence  is  at  work  ; there 
that  every  low  amusement  is  resorted  to,  and  there  the 
enginery  of  evil  kept  in  motion  — the  fires  kindled,  and 
the  flames  fed  b}’  men  whose  baser  passions  are  stirred 
to  the  unhallowed  work  by  the  unnatural  pressure  that 
is  upon  them.  Then  we  feel  like  taking  up  the  senti- 
ment of  the  poet  of  the  past,  in  another  sense,  and  ex- 
claiming, “ O thou  invisible  spirit  of  ‘beer,’  had  we  no 
other  name  to  call  thee  by,  we  should  christen  thee  as  the 
Bard  of  Avon  baptized  the  spirit  of  wine  long  ago,  and 
recognize  in  this  the  grim  portrait  of  him  who  presides 
over  the  world  of  woe.” 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSTD  ITS  EEMEDT.  101 

There  is  now  and  then  a ray  of  hope,  that  comes 
athwart  the  gloom.  Some  are  awaking  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  consequences  which  the  custom  of  beer  drink- 
ing involves.  A sensation  has  recently  arisen,  by  the 
conviction  and  corresponding  action  of  a prominent 
brewer  in  Newark,  N.  J.  He  was  one  of  the  largest 
and  wealthiest  dealers  in  the  place,  had  been  in  the 
business  twenty-five  years,  and  amassed  a fortune  esti- 
mated at  half  a million.  All  through  the  city  of  New 
York  his  beer  was  in  popular  demand.  A few  weeks 
since,  under  the  conviction  of  duty  which  pressed  upon 
him,  he  abandoned  the  pursuit  which  had  engrossed  his 
mind  for  a quarter  of  a century ; discharged  those  whom 
he  had  in  his  employ ; and  declared  his  work,  in  the  ordi- 
nary direction,  to  be  at  an  end.  Thus  he  tells  his  story : 
“Three  years  ago  I stopped  drinking  any  kind  of  beer 
or  liquor,  and  have  not  ta.led  a drop  since.  Latterly 
I began  to  think  that  it  was  inconsistent  for  me  to  make 
for  others  what  I deemed  hurtful  to  myself.  .When  I 
finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that  my  business  was 
wrong,  and  that  to  continue  in  it  would  simply  be  to 
outrage  ray  conscience,  I promptly  resolved  tq  stop  and 
I have  done  it..  I intend  that  this  building,  if  used  at 
all  in  future,  must  be  devoted  to  other  purposes.  I re- 
solved not  to  sell  my  business ; I wanted  it  stopped. 
My  action  is  not  the  result  of  religious  excitement  or 
conversion,  but  a conviction  of  what  was  my  duty.  I 
suppose  that  a good  many  Germans  will  take  offence  at 
what  I have  done  ; and  I am  very  sorry.  The  brewers, 
too,  will  be  offended  v but,  once  convinced,  as  I.  am,  that 
intemperance  is  the  great  curse  of  the  world,  I shall  never 
again  have  anything  to  do  with  beer  making.  The  Ger- 
mans are  sensitive  on  this  question ; but  I guess,  on 
second  thought,  they  will  admit  m}^.  right  to  hold  my 
own  views ; I certainly  would  not  interfere  with  theirs. 


102 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


Since  getting  out  of  the  traffic,  I have  felt  like  a new 
man,  — as  though  a load  had  been  lifted  from  my  con- 
science.” Would  similar  resolutions  be  acted  upon  by 
those  in  like  circumstances,  and  engaged  in  the  same 
business,  what  burdens  would  be  lifted  from  thousands 
of  human  hearts  that  now  lie  crushed  and  bleeding,  with 
hope  and  gladness  all  gone  out  of  them  ! Not  only  would 
those  immediately  concerned  share  in  the  delightful  sense 
of  relief,  but  the  crowd  of  those  more  remote,  over  whom 
the  rushing  tide  of  woe  has  swept,  would  lift  up  their 
heads,  and  breathe  more  freely  under  the  new  condition. 
When  conviction  shall  have  taken  a wider  range,  and 
duty  a broader  sweep,  there  will  not  be  so  many  wagons 
passing  through  our  streets,  piled  up  with  the  casks 
which  contain  the  elements  of  disease  and  death,  and 
are  suggestive  of  all  manner  of  unpleasant  things.  Even 
now  they  are  passing  the  window,  bent  on  their  sad  mis- 
sion— and  where  are  the  hearts  and  hands  that  are 
waiting  to  stay  the  blighting  curse  ? Where  are  those 
who  would  stay  the  filling  of  the  cup,  ere  it  be  lifted  to 
the  lips  of  those  who  wipe  out  every  symptom  of  a 
healthy  taste  in  draining  the  fiery  contents  ? 

The  times  demand  that  they  lurk  no  more  in  their 
hiding-places,  but  come  forth  with  courage  and  strength, 
and  wage  open  war  with  the  formidable  tyrant  that 
leadeth  so  many  captive  at  his  wdll. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


103 


CHAPTER  VIII.' 

Rum  and  Brandy. 

STEPPING  DOWNWARD.*  — TEMPERANCE  PILLARS  DISREGARDED-  — WIFE’S 
METHOD  OF  REFORM.  — THREE  STAGES  QF  DRINK.  — ALCOHOLIC  DE- 
RANGEMENT OF  THE  STOMACH  — OP  THE  BLOOD.  — THE  INEBRIATE’S 
CONFESSION.  — THE  PHYSICIAN’S  STORY. — RICH  AND  POOR  ALIKE 
FALL.  — WILKES  BObTH.  — CASE  OF  DELIRIUM  TREMENS-  — THE  MAN 
WHO  THOUGHT  HIMSELF  SAFE.  — THE  MANIAC’S  SHRIEK. 

We  read  of  “ stepping  heavenward,”  and  as  all  the 
beautiful  possibilities  of  such  a course  dawn  upon  us, 
everything  that  is  good  and  true  with'in  us  bows  before 
it.  We  see  how  all  the  discipline  of  such  a life  tends 
to  the  exaltation  of  the  soul ; how  all  surrounding  cir- 
cumstances and  attendant  providences  are  so  many  re- 
fining processes  to  lift  up  and  ennoble  the  heart ; how 
the  secret  and  mysterious  working  of  the  invisible  good 
shines  out  through  the  eyes,  and  reveals  itself  in  every 
line  of  the  face,  until  we,  too,  discover  the  rounds  of  the 
ladder  of  light  up  which  sxich  are  climbing,  and  which  is 
lost  in  the  depths  of  the  blue  ether  beyond. 

By  the  law  of  association  we  are  borne  upward,  also. 
We  trace  the  history  of  such  ones  with  those  feelings  of 
intense  satisfaction  which  we  imagine  the  watchful 
guardians  of  the  celestial  world  to  feel  when  those 
whom  they  have  been  commissioned  to  “ bear  up,”  and 
minister  unto,  upon  the  earth,  are  obedient  unto  the 
heavenly  vision,  and  wake  to  the  harmonies  of  their 
angelic  touch.  But  who  shall  turn  from  this  to  give  an 
adequate  description  of  the  one  stepping  downward  — 


104 


mTESIPEEAXCE, 


downward  to  the  very  brink  of  perdition,  recklessly  near- 
ing the  verge  of  remediless  ruin,  and  all  the  while  writing 
the  direst  prophecies  for  himself  ? Meantime,  the  shad- 
ows which  precede  coming  events,  are  settling  down  into 
the  “blackness  of  darkness^’  forever. 

O,  it  is  enough  to  make  the  angels  weep,  if  they  are 
ever  permitted  to  look  down  from  their  abodes  of  celes- 
tial purity  and  blessedness,  and  behold  the  multitude 
who  are  stepping,  yea,  rushing -on,  in  this  broad  high- 
•way  of  intemperance.  To  see  those  who  should  be  re- 
flecting the  glory  of  their  creation,  wilfully  blotting  out 
every  trace  of  that  which  divinity  stamped  upon  them, 
and  prostituting  all  their  gifts  before  an  unholy  and  un- 
hallowed shrine,  is  enough  to  stir  even  heaven  with 
pitiful  indignation.  • There  is  no  language  strong  enough 
to  denounce  the  folly  of  such  a course  ; and  yet  the  sad 
truth  is  acted  out  a-  thousand  times,  over  and  over,  every 
day  and  every  year.  TVe  are  so  familiar  with  the  re- 
ccital  of  all  this  waste  and  perversion ; so  accustomed  to 
the  story  of  guilt  and  wretchedness  — the  wrongs  and 
woes  involved,  that  they  too  often  fail  to  excite  more  than 
a sigh  of  commiseration,  or,  at  most,  the  silent  tear  of 
pit}’'.  We  have  followed  these  unhappy  beings  while 
taking  the  first  steps  in  their  downward  course,  and  we 
come  now  to  the  last  station  of  their  “ Black  Valley 
Railroad,”  just  ahead  of  which  is  the  Depot  of  Destruc- 
tion, and  beyond,  the  track  is  lost  in  the  shadows  of  the 
Infernal.  We  have  seen  them  begin  thoughtlessly  — 
take  the  first  steps  remorsefully  and  shrinkingly,  and  we 
have  seen  them  grow  gradually  bold  and  defiant,  until 
they  have  reached  the  abandonment  of  every  worthy 
impulse,  and  provoked  the  fury  of  a tempest  which 
. they  knew  would  leave  them  a wrecked  and  stranded 
thing  on  the  shores  of  time,  with  scarce  a ray  of  hope 
that  they  could  ever  again  be  restored  or  refitted  for  the 


ITS  ASPECT  APTD  ITS  EEjMEDT. 


105 


position  they  had  lost  — if,  indeed,  they  go  not  out  of 
sight  entirely. 

This  is  the  point  where  the  strongest  of  alcoholic 
mixtures  will  alone  suffice  to  meet  the  want ; where  the 
slow  steps  of  the  first  grade  have  passed  into  the  rapid 
strides  of  a steep  declivity  that  knows  no  resistance. 
One  by  one  the  pillars  of  Temperance,  against  which  he 
may  have  leaned  in  time  past,  have  been  swept  away, 
and  there  remains  nothing  more  for  his  support  or  his 
safety.  He  is  impelled  onward  and  downward  by  the 
momentum  of  his  own  deeds.  Reason,  Science,  Reve- 
lation, and  Experience  are  said  to.be  the  guide-boards 
in  the  way  of  every  man,  each  pointing,  with  unerring 
finger,  to  the  gate-  of  the  wise,  and  warning  against  the 
path  of  the  destroyer  ; but  what  are  all  these,  and  what 
the  evils  to  which  they  point  to  him,  who  is  controlled 
by  rum  and  brandy,  and  e-very  sensibility  stupefied 
thereby  ? What  to  him  are  the  calm  deductions  of 
reason,  when  the  proper  functions  of  his  judgment  have 
no  more  play  ? 

What  to  him  are  unfoldings  of  science  when  the  fac- 
ulties of  perception  have  been  dimmed  and  bleared  until 
there  is  no  more  power  of  vision  remaining  ? And  what 
the  monitory  tones  of  revelation  and  experience,  when 
conscience  is  deadened  to  every  sound  ? when  hope 
ceases  to  allure,  and  fear  stirs  no  compunction  ? There- 
seems  no  avenue  by  which  the  confirmed  inebriate  can  be- 
reached.  His  soul  is  effectually  barred  against  all  warn- 
ing and  entreaty.  Now  and  then,  it  may  be,  there  comes, 
a lucid  interval,  when  the  memory  of  what  is  lost  comes 
over  the  mind,  and  there  comes  a humiliating  sense  of 
the  degradation  -that  rum  has  occasioned,  accompanied 
by  a momentary  desire  to  be  free  from  the  galling  bon- 
dage. The  right  treatment,  at  such  a time,  doth  some- 
times work  a change.  “ What  brings  you  here,  Mary  ? 

7 


106 


INTElMPERAlSrCE, 


said  a man  to  his  wife,  as  she  entered  the  saloon  where  he 
had  been  leaving  his  money  and  his  mind.  She  had 
pondered  the  fact  over  and  over,  until,  in  her  despera- 
tion, she  resolved  to  risk  the  attempt  of  a daring  deed, 
and  follow  him  to  his  well-known  haunt.  “It  is  very 
lonesome  at  home,”  she  replied,  “ and  your  business  sel- 
dom allows  you  to  be  there.”  There  was  a touching  look 
of  grief  on  that  face,  a^plaintive  sorrow  in  her  tone  as  she 
said,  “ To  me  there  is  no  compan}'-  like  yours  ; and  as  you" 
cannot  come  to  me,  I must  come  to  you.  I have  a right 
to  share  your  pleasures,  as  well  as  your  sorrows.” 

“ But  to  come  to  such  a place  as  this  ! ” expostulated' 
the  husband.  “ But  no  place  can  be  improper  where  you 
are,”  said  the  poor,  discouraged  wife.  “ Whom  God 
hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder.”  Taking 
up  the  glass  of  spirits  which  the  keeper  of  the  saloon 
had  poured  out  for  him,  who  had  become  his  frequent 
customer,  she  raised  it  to  her  lips. 

With  a look  of  unutterable  astonishment  he  ex- 
claimed, “Surely  you  are  not  going  to  drink  that?” 
“Why  not?”  said  she;  “you  say  that  you  drink  to 
forget  sorrow,  and  surely  I have  sorro^ys  to  forget.” 
Pier  children  stood  by  her  side  in  all  their  wondering 
innocence,  and  she  gave  to  them  what  their  father  had 
called  the  cup  of  blessing.  “ Woman  ! woman ! ’•  cried 
the  father,  in  great  excitement,  “you  are  not  going  to 
give  that  stuff  to  the  children?”  “Why  not?  Can 
children  have  a better  example  than  their  father's  ? Is 
not  what  is  good  for  him  good  for  them  also  ? It  will 
put  them  to  sleep,  and  they  will  forget  they  are  cold  and 
hungry;”  and,  resolutely  holding  the  cup,  she  said, 
“Drink,  my  children;  this  is //t,  and  bed,  and/ood,  and 
clothing.  Drink  : you  see.  how  much  good  it  does  j’our 
father.”  It  was  enough.  With  seeming  reluctance  she 
suffered  her  husband  to  lead  her  Imme,  and  all  that 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


■ 107 


night  all  the  powers  of  good  and  evil  within  him  were 
struggling  for  the  mastery.  He  thought  of  all  that  had 
brought  him  and  his  family  to  where  they  were  ; to  what 
a height  of  anguish  his  devoted  wife  had  risen  to  inspire 
her  with  daring  for  such  an  act ; what  depths  of  despair 
she  must  have  fathomed  ere  she  determined  upon  that 
first  step — that  dreadful,  doubtful  lesson.  To  have  ap- 
propriated that  one  more  glass,  which  she  had  snatched 
from  his  grasp,  might  have  made  it  too  late  to  compre- 
hend and  escape  the  situation.  As  it  was,  he  resolved, 
if  there  was  any  help  for  him,  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  he 
would  reform  ; and  he  did.  The  loving  wife  rejoiced  in. 
the  suceess  of  her  effort,  and  was  wont  to  recall  her  first 
and  last  visit  to  the  dram  shop  with  a peouliar  but  mel- 
ancholy pleasure. 

There  are  different  stages  of  alcoholic  derangement, 
and  the  hopefulness'  of  reform,  and  the  ability  to  meet 
it,  is  somewhat  in  proportion  to  these.  The  first  is  a 
state  of  excitement,  where  the  drink  has  had  simply  a 
mirth-producing  effect,  and  he  who  is  thus  wrought 
upon  feels  that  the  world  is  jolly ; that  he  can  bid  dull 
care  be  gone,  and  sing  the  hours  away,  regardless  of 
any  serious  obligation  or  claim.  Thousands  drain  the 
contents  of  the  cup  just  for  this  reason,  because,  it  brings 
to  them  a blessed  forgetfulness  of  what  is  imposed  upon 
them  in  the  various  relations  in  life ; and  their  straitened 
means  and  inefficient  natures  make  them  shrink  from  the 
necessary  contest.  Their  duties  to  theniselves  and  their 
families,  their  creditors  and  their  country,  are  so  many 
impelling  motives  to  the  indulgence  of  that  which  will 
hush  these  clamors,  and  send  them  into  a world  where 
none  of  these  things  are. 

The  last  stage  involves  the  loss  of  the  mental  and 
moral  faculties  so  completely,  that  all  the  bright  visions 
of  happiness,  which  made  life  so  radiant  at  the  begin- 


108 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


ning,  all  pass  away,  and  the  person  reels  and  falls  under 
the  general  benumbing  influence,  without  consideration, 
or  appreciation  of  anything.  This  is  the  chmax  of  the 
^ di'unkard’s  condition.  But  there  is  yet  an  intermediate 
grade,  where,  perhaps,  most  of  the  crimes  associated  with 
intemperance  come  in.  There  is  a point  prior  to  the 
extreme  mental  and  moral  degradation  of  the  last  stage, 
when  these  faculties  of  being  are  not  paralyzed  or  sus- 
pended, but  are,  nevertheless,  so  confused  and  bewil- 
dered, that  they  are  not  awake  to  actual  results  and  condi- 
tions, and  not  beyond  the  power  of  action,  and  therefore 
^ are'  ready  for  the  committal  of  any  deed.  Here  comes  in 
the  overwhelming  conviction  that  alcohol  is  a terrible  en- 
emy to  the  best  interests  of  society  ; inasmuch  as,  by  its 
influence,  there  remaineth  no  more  fitness  in  man  for  the 
right  performance  of  anything.  We  have  seen,  in  the 
general  physiological  influence  upon  the  human  system, 
what  detriment  it  works  upon  all  the  organs  of  the  body, 
and  how,  by  the  operation  of  fixed  laws,  it  extends  itself 
to  the  mind,  the  social  affections,  and  the  moral  sensibili- 
ties. But  let  us  trace  its  inevitable  workings  more  mi- 
nutely, and  observe  the  changes  wrought  by  its  intro- 
duction into  the  stomach.  That  organ,  in  its  healthy 
state,  as  the  first  representation  indicates,  is  slightly 
reddish,  tinged  with  yellow,  and  the  blood-vessels  are 
invisible.  Alcohol  is  taken,  and  these  become  enlarged 
and  distended,  though  the  stimulant  be  taken  but  moder- 
ately. Taken  in  larger  quantities,  “ the  inner  coat  of 
the  stomach  becomes  corroded  with  small  ulcers,  which 
are  covered  with  white  crusts,  with  the  margin  of  the 
ulcers  elevated  and  ragged.”  Still  later,  when  the  man 
gives  himself  up  to  days  and  nights  of  habitual  indul- 
gence, there  “ is  seen  a high  degree  of  inflammation  ex- 
tending over  the  surface,  changing  its  color  to  deep  red, 
and  in  some  points  exhibiting  a livid  appearance.”  From 


S^TSIPTOMB 


^LL  kinds  at  35. 


'^HlStfEY  & BFIAMDY  aT  2®' 


Wine  at  zt- 


DIAGRAMS  OF  THE  STOMACH  JN  VARIOUS  CONDITIONS. 


MODE  R,aVTE  dr  I NKTtSTG 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  EEMEDY. 


109 


this  it  goes  on  to  the  last  fearful  scenes,  when  delirium 
comes  in  to  draw  a veil  over  everything,  and  there  is  a 
dark-brown,  flaky  substance  over  the  stomach,  beneath 
which  is  traced  an  inflammation  that  seems  but  little 
less  than  an  incipient  state  of  mortification.  “ But  there 
is  still  another  principle,”  says  Thomas  Sewell,  medical 
professor  in  Columbia  College,  “ on  which  the  use  of 
alcohol  predisposes  the  drunkard  to  disease  and  death.” 
Not  only  is  it  the  fearful  cause  of  this  wretched  condi- 
tion of  the  stomach,  “ it  acts  on  the  hlood^  impairs  its 
vitality,  deprives  it  of  its  red  color,  and  thereby  renders 
it  unfit  to  stimulate  the  heart  and  other  organs  through 
which  it  circulates ; unfit,  also,  to  supply  the  materials 
for  the  different  secretions,  and  to  renovate  the  different 
tissues  of  the  body,  as  well  as  to  sustain  the  energy  of 
the  brain  — offices  which  it  can  perform  only  while  it  re- 
tains the  vermilion  color  and  other  arterial  properties. 
The  blood  of  the  drunkard  is  several  shades  darker  in 
its  color  than  that  of  temperate  persons,  and  also  coagu- 
lates less  readily  and  firmly,  and  is  loaded  with  serum  — 
appearances  which  indicate  that  it  has  exchanged  its 
arterial  properties  for  those  of  venous  blood.  This  is 
the  cause  of  the  livid  complexion  of  the  inebriate,  which 
so  strongly  marks  him  in  the  advanced  stages  Qf  intem- 
perance. Here,  too,  all  the  functions  of  his  body  are 
sluggish,  irregular,  and  the  whole  system  loses  its  tone 
and  energy.  If  alcohol,  when  taken  into  the  system, 
exhausts  the  vital  principle  of  the  solids,  it  destroys  the 
vital  principle  of  the  blood  also,  and,  if  taken  in  large 
quantities,  produces  death ; in  which  case  the  blood, 
as  in  death  produced  by  lightning,  by  opium,  of  by  vio- 
lent and  long-continued  exertion,  does  not  coagulate. 

The  inebriate  having,  by  the  habitual  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks,  exhausted,  to  a greater  or  less  extent,  the 
principle  of  excitabihty  in  the  sohds,  the  power  of  re- 


no 


INTEJIPEEA^rCE; 


action,  and  the  blood  having  become  incapable  of  per- 
forming its  ofSces  also,  he  is  alike  predisposed  to  every 
disease,  and  rendered  liable  to  the  inroads  of  every 
invading  foe.  So  far,  therefore,  from  protecting  the 
system  against  disease,  intemperance  ever  constitutes 
one  of  its  strongest  predisposing  causes.  Superadded  to 
this,  whenever  disease  lays  its  grasp  upon  the  drunkard, 
the  powers  of  life  being  already  enfeebled  bj’  the  stimu- 
lus of  alcohol,  he  sinks  unexpectedly  in  the  contest. 
Indeed,  inebriation  so  enfeebles  the  powers  of  hfe,  so- 
modifies  the  character  of  disease,  and  so  changes  the 
ojperation  of  medical  agents,  that  unless  the  young  phy- 
"sician  has  studied  thoroughly  the  constitution  of  the 
drunkard,  he  has  but  partially  learned  his  profession, 
and  is  not  fit  for  a jDractitioner  of  the  present  age.” 

True  as  the  latter  statement  may  be,  it  is,  nevertheless, 
a most  humihating  confession  that  the  degeneracy  of  the 
times  in  this  respect  calls  for  so  much  of  training  and 
effort  to  meet  the  demands  of  its  "various  aspects.  We 
cannot  deny  that  the  individual  and  collective  influences 
of  this  wide-spread  traffic  are  sad  and  mighty  ; that  it 
is  as  though  a vast  army  were  all  the  while  marching 
on  to  the  other  world,  composed  of  those  who  thought, 
when  they  enlisted,  they  could  regulate  their  part  in 
the  campaign  to  suit  themselves,  but  found,  all  too  late, 
they  were  deceived,  and  were  under  the  dominion  of  a 
tyrant  that  would  not  let  them  go. 

The  vast  majority  of  those  who  come  under  the  power 
of  rum  and  brandj*  are  hopelessly  beyond  retreat.  De- 
ceived, deluded,  and  enslaved,  such  are  held  fast  under 
bonds  of  iniquity.  All  the  strongest  principles  of  man's 
nature  — fear,  shame,  ambition,  and  love  — are  powers 
less  to  restrain  the  slave  of  alcohol.  All  the  terrors  of 
human  and  divine  law,  and  the  love  of  an  infinite  re- 
demption, are  alike  unavailing. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


Ill 


“ If  a bottle  of  brandy,”  said  an  inebriate,  “ stood  at 
one  band,  and  tbe  pit  of  bell  yawned  at  tbe  other,  and 
I knew  that  I should  be  pushed  in  as  soon  as  I took  one 
glass,  I could  not  refrain.”  There  is  nothing  upon  earth 
that  produces  such  demoniac  frenzy,  nothing  that  makes 
one  so  utterly  dead  to  every  sentiment  of  humanity, 
so  perfectly  reckless  of  his  destiny,  for  weal  or  for  woe, 
in  this  world  and  the  next.  Dr.  J.e'wett,  in  a tract  enti- 
tled “ Bound,  and  How,”  thus  remarks  : “ ‘ Why,’  it  is 
asked,  ‘ does  not  the  man  know  that  he  is  thus  sure  to 
destroy  his  life,  and  that  soon  ? ’ ' ‘ Certainly.’  ‘ And 
does  lie  not  know,  too,  that  he  is  afflicting  terribly  a 
most  excellent  family?’  ‘Yes.’  ‘And  wasting  his 
estate?  ’ ‘Yes.’  ‘And  sacrificing  a once  enviable  rep- 
utation ? ’ ‘ Yes.’  ‘ Why,  then,  does  he  not  stop  drink- 

ing ? ’ ‘ Go  and  ask  him  ; and  if  you  can,  by  kind  words 
and  treatment,  gain  his  confidence  so  that  he  will  talk 
freely  with  you  in  relation  to  the  matter,  he  will  tell  5mu 
he  cannot.  He  used  to  declare  that  in  his  case  there  was 
no  danger.  ■‘  I can  drink,’  he  once  said,  ‘ or  let  it  alone, 
as  I choose.’  He  uses  no  such  language  now.  Others 
may;  but  for  him,  he  has  received  a terrible  education. 
Perhaps  it  has  come  too  late ; but  he  now  fully  under- 
stands the  power  of  his  enemy,  and  the  strength  of  the 
chain  with  which  he  has  suffered  himself  to  be  bpund. 
He  has  probably  tested  its  strength  a score,  it  may  be  a 
hundred  times,  striving  to  break  it  with  the  full  purpose 
of  his  will,  but  as  often  he  has  failed ; and  now,  per- 
haps, he  has  readied  the  last  stage.  It  is  one  of  despair. 
He  now  drowns  reflection  by  drink,  secures  what  relief 
he  can  from  the  torture  of  a disorganized  nervous  sys- 
tem by  deep  draughts  of  the  poison,  and  awaits  what  to 
him  seems  the  inevitable  plunge.” 

The  history  of  one  such  is  essentially  the  history  of  all. 
From  the  moderate  and  occasional  use  of -the  lighter 


112 


INTElVIPERAifCE, 


spirits  he  goes  on  to  the  frequent  and  inordinate  use  of 
the  stronger,  until,  almost  unconsciously,  he  is  beyond 
recall.  Says  the  author  just  cited,  “ At  the  conclusion 
of  a lecture  delivered  in  one  of  our  Western  States,  a few 
years  since,  on  this  subject,  a gentleman  requested  me 
to  accompany  him  to  his  office.  He  was,  as  I learned, 
a physician  in  extensive  practice,  and  a professor  in  a 
medical  college.  I -complied  with  his  request.  On 
entering  the  office,  he  asked  me  to  be  seated,  and,  clos- 
ing the  door,  took  a seat  near,  and  directly  in  front,  and 
facing  me.  His  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  every  feature 
of  his  countenance,  which  was  a noble  one,  was  agitated 
with  emotion,  as  he  thus  addressed  me : ‘ Dr.  Jewett, 
I am  one  of  the  unfortunate  ones  whose  cases  you  have 
been  considering  this  evening  ; and  I have  reason  to  fear 
that  it  is  noAV  too  late  for  me  to  make  any  successful 
effort  to  break  the  chain  which  binds  me.’  ‘ Indeed,’ 
said  I,  ‘ let  us  hope  not.  Have  you  made  the  effort, 
doctor?’  ‘Yes;  and  so  far  I have  failed,’  was  his  sad 
reply.  He  added,  ‘ I have  again  and  again  resolved, 
with  all  the  strength  of  my  nature,  that  I Avould  never 
drink  another  glass  of  intoxicating  hquors,  and  yet  I 
have  drank  again  within  twenty-four  hours.’  ‘ Why 
did  you  drink,  doctor,  after  having  resolved  and  prom- 
ised yourself  you  would  not  ? ’ I asked.  Xow  I beg  my 
readers  to  understand  that  I did  not  ask  that  question 
for  information.  I knew  quite  well  why  he  drank  again ; 
but  I wished  to  learn  how  he,<i  man  of  science,  a teacher 
of  medicine,  would  express  the  facts  of  the  case.  It  was 
in  substance  as  follows : ‘ Usually,’  said  he,  ‘ when  I 
have  formed  a resolution  to  abstain  in  future,  it  has 
been  at  the  close  of  unusually  hard  drinking,  when  the 
folly,  shame,  and  peril  of  the  thing  have  come  very  viv- 
idly before  my  mind ; and  then  I have  said,  and  with 
emphasis,  “ This  thing  ends  here.  Not  another  glass,  on 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


113 


any  consideration,  or  under  any  circumstances.  But  I 
did  not  properly  estimate  the  change  that  would  come 
over  me  as  the  liquor,  during  the  night,  should  be  elimi- 
nated, or  cast  out  of  my  system.  In  the  morning  I 
would  be  nerveless  and  wretched,  and  the  first  impulse 
would  be  to  supply  the  system  with  the  coveted  article. 
But  I had  resolved  that  I would  not,  and  so  would 
keep  about  until  the  hour  of  breakfast.  I would  take  a 
little  food,  perhaps,  and  a cup  of  coffee ; but  it  did  not 
meet  the  demands  of  my  nervous  system.  I would  feel 
a deadly  sinhing  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach ; my  hands 
were  tremulous,  as  was,  in  fact,  my  whole  body ; I could 
not  control  or  use  my  mind  to  any  purpose,  or  scarcely 
my  body ; and  my  misery,  increasing  every  hour  and 
moment,  would  at  last  reach  a point  where  it  would 
seem  quite  impossible  to  endure  it  longer.  It  would 
seem,  in  fact,  as  if  I was  sinking  into  the  very  pit  of 
hell  i and  in  sheer  desperation  I have  rushed  to  the  near- 
est place  of  supply,  and  swallowed  again  the  accursed 
thing  that  has  brought  all  this  upon  me.’  And  he 
added,  with  an  expression  of  despair  in  that  noble  coun- 
tenance which  I shall  not  soon  forget,  ‘ So  I expect  it 
will  be,  in  the  future,  until  I drop  into  the  grave,  as 
thousands  of  poor  fellows  have  done  before  me.’  ” 

And  this  is  the  inevitable  tendency.  From  it  there  is 
no  escape.  There  are  but  few  who  intend  to  come  to 
this  when  they  begin.  They  mistake  the  weakness  of 
their  own  fallen  nature,  or  the  strength  and  power  of 
that  with  which  they  have  to  do,  or  both,  and  enter  the 
dangerous  arena  before  they  are  aware  of  it.  It  not 
only  takes  the  simple,  uneducated,  and  poverty-stricken 
class,  and  makes  them  more  so,  but  it  embraces  in  its 
relentless  grasp  the  higher  — the  refined,  educated, 
wealthy,  and  most  promising  of  young  and  old  in  the 
best  circles.  The  most  favored  and  intelligent  fall  into 


114 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


the  snara  with  others  less  gifted,  and  it  writes  the  same 
unmistakable  characters  upon  all.  There  are  no  hiero- 
glyphics here.  The  world  knows  the  drunkard  wher- 
ever he  he.  His  looks  tell  it,  his  words  betray ‘it,  and 
his  steps  reveal  it  to  every  passer-bj^, . as  plainl)^  as 
though  it  were  stamped  in  so  many  letters  on  his  fore- 
head. He  is  himself  a walking  sign,  a perpetual  monu- 
ment to  the  enslaving  power  of  strong  drink.  It  would 
seem  that  the  very  sight  of  such  men  would  be  enough 
to  warn  the  young  against  the  folly  of  even  tasting  a 
drink  .that  is  producing  such  terrible  consequences. 
There  is  nothing  like  the  indifference  that  'is  manifested* 
here,  in  the  history  of  any  other  malady  with  which 
the  world  is  conversant.  Men  will  take  every  possible 
precaution,  shrink  from  contact  with  an  infectious  dis- 
ease, that  lasts  but  a little,  and  may  never  prove  mortal, 
and  yet  these  same  persons  will  pour  down  the  brandy, 

■ when  they  know  full  well  its  debasing  effect  and  deathly 
working,  and  see  the  living  testimony  to  the  truth  all 
about  them.  They  will  look  upon  the  most  unprece- 
dented acts  of  cruelty  and  injustice,  and  attempt  to 
excuse  and  palliate  the  crimes,  because  those  concerned 
were  laboring  under  a temporary  loss  of  sense  by  reason 
of  too  much  alcohol.  After  Wilkes  Booth  had  matured 
his  plan  to  take  the  life  of  President  Lincoln,  there 
was  still  a depth  in  his  graceless  soul  from  whence  came 
a shuddering  at  the  guilt  and  horror  of  his  premeditated 
scheme.  He  could  not  summon  sufficient  courage  to 
strike  the  dreadful  blow,  and  he  rushed  into  a saloon, 
and  cried,  “ Brandj^ ! brand}’!”  Not  until  that  irritat- 
ing genius  had  effaced  every  shadow  of  a good  impulse 
from  his  being,  did  lie  dare  to  aim  the  fatal  ball  at  the 
defenceless  head  of  one  of  the  best  men  that  ever  filled 
the  executive  chair  of  the  American  nation. 

It  makes  the  brain  wild,  and  sends  it,  a whirling,  reel- 


■sxjtTvanx  wnianan 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


117 


ing,  giddy  thing,  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason,  where  it 
is  subject  to  no  law,  and  not  a fit  instrument  for  action 
in  anything  or  anywhere  ; and  finally  the  culmination  is 
reached  in  that  most  wretched  of  all  conditions— delir- 
ium tremens.  Probably  there  is  nothing  in  all  the  world 
that  brings  to  the  spirit  of  man  so  full  a realization 
of  the  horrors  of  the  “ bottomless  pit,”  as  that  which 
comes  in  experiences  like  these.  Abandoned  of  all  that 
is  good,  and  consigned,  as  it  were,  into  the  hands  of  him 
who  only  seeketh  to  destroy,  he.  finds  him  laughing  at 
his  helplessness  and  mocking  at  his  fear.  Satan  has  no 
more  powerful  ally  in  the  accomplishment  o'f  his  work 
than  brandy  ; and  when  that  has  done  all  that  it  can  do, 
he  is  satisfied,  for  the  destructive  work  is  complete.  ' He 
lets  loose  his  emissaries  around  the  bed  of  such  a one, 
and  there  is  no  escape  from  the  hellish  torture  which  well 
nigh  rends  soul  and  body.  Pie  gives  them  no  welcome . 
picture  for  the  eyes  to  feast  upon  ; he  lets  them  hear 
no  sounds  but  the  doleful  shrieks  of  despair,  or  feel  any 
change  but  the  thickening  of  the  darkness,  and  the 
fiercer  burst  of  the  storm. 

“ The  room  is  full  of  devils,”  said  one  in  this  condi- 
tion. “ They  are  in  my  hair  — pull  them  out ! They  are 
laughing  and  grinning  at  me  from  the  wall  — send  them 
away!  ” And  with  the  beaded  perspiration  on  his  brow, 
cjuivering  and  shrinking,  he  sought  to  screen  himself 
from  their  gaze  by  hiding  under  the  bed-clothes.  But 
the  foul  spirit  was  there  ; and  starting  and  shrinking  he 
exclaimed,  “ I’m  rushing  through  the  streets  of  hell — 
see  them  laugh  on  both  sides  of  me!  What  looks  of 
scorn  ! What  derision  ! I must  leave  it ; ” and  the  hands 
of  strong  men  only  restrained  the  attempt  to  leap  forth  — 
to  spring  forward  anywhere,  so  as  only  to  be  saved  from 
the  impending  doom.  There  was  no  relief,  whichever 
way  he  turned.  “ I am  treading  on  millions  of  worms  ! 


118 


INTEItIPEKANCE, 


serpents  are  tissing  and  writhing  under  my  feet — O, 
lift  me  up  ! O,  take  me  away  ! ” And  so,  with  such  an 
outlook,  amid  these  fearful  sights  and  sounds,  he  grap- 
pled long  with  these  tormenting,  taunting  foes. 

Strange,  beyond  all  coiiiprehension,  that  with  a knowl- 
edge of  these  results  any  one  will  clutch  the  glass  that 
binds  him  to  such  a fate  ; that  he  will  throw  himself 
into  the  embrace  of  all  this  fiendish  mahciousness,  and 
drink  on,  with  the  awful  doom  staring  him  in  the  face. 
Brandy  writes  a cannot  upon  every  movement  of  the 
will ; and  one  might  as  well  undertake  to  escape  from 
death,  when  the  inexorable  mandate  has  gone  forth  at 
the  divine  bidding,  as  to  free  himself  from  the  utter 
helplessness  of  being,  which  an  advanced  stage  of  drunk- 
enness induces. 

“ A few  years  since,  a man  of  splendid  abilities,  when 
temporarily  released  from  the  power  of  the  destroyer, 
gave  to  the  world  a touching  and  graphic  sketch  of  his 
purposes  and  views  in  the  following  lines  : — 

‘ I’ve  tlirown  the  bowl  aside ; 

Eor  me  no  more  shall  flow 

Its  ruddy  stream,  its  sparkling  tide. 

How  bright  soe’er  it  glow ; 

I’ve  seen  extended  wide 
Its  devastating  sway ; 

Seen  reason  yield  its  power  to  guide,  — 

I’ve  cast  the  bowl  away.’ 

He,  however,  miscalculated  his  strength,  and,  notwith- 
standing these  just  views  and  excellent  purposes,  he 
sleeps  in  the  grave  of  the  drunkard.  So  true  is  it,  that 
when  once  the  passion  is  excited,  the  appetite  formed, 
however  hard  and  long  one  may  seek  to  sub.due  and  put 
it  away,  it  is  at  best  but  the  lulling  of  the  demon  to  a 
temporary  sleep,  and  it  is  ready  to  spring  forth  and  over- 
power him  at  the  slightest  provocation.  There  is  no 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


119 


power  of  intellect,  no  brilliancy  of  attainment,  no  energy 
of  character,  or  strength  of  purpose,  that  counts  much  of 
anything  in  this  warfare.  If  the  battle  has  been  waging 
long,  t^ere  is  but  little  chance  for  anything  but  perma- 
nent defeat.  Now  and  then  the  shouts  of  victory  are 
heard  over  the  rise  of  some  low-fallen  one  ; but  they  are 
rare.  Those  who  begin  the  mad  career  are  almost  sure 
to  step  down  and  still  downward,  until  they  reach  the 
lowest  depth.  They  may  slide  slowly,  — perhaps  almost 
imperceptibly  at  the  first,  — but  the  momentum  is  still 
constantly  increasing,  until  at  last,  in  the  wanton  reck- 
lessness of  his  thirst,  he  shrieks.  In  hell  they  never 
want  for  rum ; haste,  drive  me  down, 

“ Where  rum  is  free ; where  revellers  reign, 

And  I can  wear  the  drunl^ard’s  crown.” 


120 


INTEMPEKA2TCE, 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Where  is-  it  fourto  ? 


ALCOHOLIC  MIgEET  CANNOT  BE  PAINTED.  — LOVE  OP  GAIN  THE  PP.O- 

PELLING  MOTIVE.  LORD  CHESTERFIELD’S  REMARK. EDM  SELLER’S 

TREATMENT  OF  AN  OLD  MAN.  THE  COUNTRY  TAVERN.  — HOMES  AND 

HAUNTS  OP  THE  DRUNKARD.  — FIVE  POINTS.  — GROCERS’  NETS.  — 
FREE  LUNCH  HOUSES.  FIRST-CLASS  HOTELS.  CLUB-ROOMS.  EU- 

ROPEAN AND  MODERN  STYLE.  POWER  OF  EXAMPLE. 

There  have  been  many  discoveries  made  in  the  world 
by  the  perseverance  and  ingenuity  of  man,  that  have  sent 
a thrill  of  joy  and  a tide  of  blessing  over  all  the  people  ; 
but  could  the  full  significance  of  the  discovery  have  been 
comprehended  when  the  process  of  distillation  was  first 
evoked,  it  might  have  been  written,  in  letters  of  blood 
and  characters  of  fire,  from  one  end  of  heaven’s  broad 
arch  to  the  other,  “ Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  this.” 
It  was  bad  enough  that  sin  planted  the  image  of  woe 
around  the  habitations  of  men  at  the  beginning,  but  this 
made  it  go  deeper  and  rise  higher ; caused  it  to  assume 
vastly  greater  proportions,  and  take  on  an  aspect  of 
fiercer  malignity,  than  it  otherwise  would  have  done. 

There  are  no  calculations  that  can  sum  up  the  amount 
of  human  misery  that  has  come  to  the  world  through  the 
medium  of  this  alcoholic,  agent.  The  delineations  of  jien 
and  pencil  have  shadowed  it  forth  in  every  conceivable 
light,  but  there  is  that  remaining  which 'can  never  be 
shadowed  forth  — never  be  written  — that  spends  itself 
in  the  silent  recesses  of  burdened,  acMng  hearts  — in 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


121 


sighs  and  tears  that  are  not  seen,  except  to  an  eye  that 
is  • omniscient.  We  have  seen  what  it  can  and  will  do. 
We  have  studied  its  nature  and  its  effects,  observed  the 
different  grades  of  its  presentation,  and  followed  the  dif- 
ferent stages  of  their  action ; and  now  the  questions  be- 
fore us  are.  Who  is  responsible  ? Where  is  it  found  ? 
And  how  is  it  that  the  habit  of  drinking  is  so  universal  ? 

In  the  first  place,  a love  of  gain  is  the  absorbing  pas- 
sion of  men.  Whatever  opens  the  way  to  this  will  be 
eagerly  pursued.  Questionable  though  the  means  may 
be,  there  are  usually  argumentative  opiates  enough  to 
soothe  the  restless  conscience,  and  keep  it  comfortably 
quiet,  when  its  disturbing  forces  come  in  competition 
with  the  coveted  acquisition.  In  the  early  history  of  the 
rum  traffic,  before  its  manufacture  had  come  to  be  con- 
sidered a degrading  business,  there  was'  required  no  such 
education  of  this  sort  ♦to  bring  him  up  to  the  work ; but 
in  these  days  of  .enlightened  conviction,  when  the  whole 
thing  is  pronounced  morally  wrong,  it  requires  more 
daring  in  a man  to  stand  up  and  declare  that  ‘he  will  put 
gold  in  his  coffers,  though  it  be  at  the  expense  of  every- 
thing that  others  hold  dear.  But  the  passion  impels 
the  daring,  and  there  are  not -wanting  men  everywhere, 
who  are  ready  to  invest  their  capital  and  devote  their 
energies  to  the  manufacture  of  that  which,  though  prof- 
itable, is  ruinous  to  every  interest  of  the  world.  They 
satisfy  themselves  by  saying,  “It  will  be  had.  If  I do 
not  furnish  it,  others  will,  and  society  is  no  worse  for 
what  I am  doing;” — and  so  the  work  goes  on,  the 
facilities  are  multiplied,  the  suppljr  is  increased,  and  it  is 
bottled,  barrelled,  and  circulated  everywhere.  Verily 
the  manufacturer  is  responsible  for  this. 

Close  these  fountains  that  are  feeding  the  streams 
which  are  wearing  their  polluting  channels  into  the  heart 
of  society,  and  doubtless  their  proprietors  would  cry  out 


122 


IRTEIMPEEANCE, 


for  their  gains  as  strongly  as  the  drunkard  would  plead 
for  his  dram.  The  vast  enginery  of  distillation  is  kept 
in  motion  in  this  way.  As  long  as  the  propelling  power 
of  avarice  is  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  men,  so 
long  it  will  continue,  more  or  less. 

Not  until  there  is  a mighty  moral  revolution  that  shall 
elevate  the  standard  of  public  sentiment  higher  than  it 
ever  yet  has  been,  will  the  actors  in  this  part  of  the 
drama  be  roused  to  consider  what  they  are  doing.  Just 
so  long  as  it  is  made  to.  flow  out  among  the  people,  just 
so  long  will  they  gather  it  up,  and  all  the  long  catalogue 
of  woes  that  follow  in  its  train  will  be  swelling  all  the 
while. 

Lord  Chesterfield  calls  these  manufacturers- of  spirit- 
o.us  liquors  '■^artists  in  huonan  slaughter;''^  and  John 
Wesley  declares  these  traffickers  to  be  poisoners-gen- 
eral.  They  murder  by  wholesale,”  he  says;  “neither 
does  their  eye  pity  or  spare.  And  what  is  their  gain  ? Is 
it  not  the  blood  of  these  men  ? Who  would  envy  their 
large  estatfis  and  their  sumptuous  palaces  ? A curse  is 
in  the  midst  of  them.  The  curse  of  God  is  on  their  gar- 
dens, their  walks,  their  groves ; a fire  that  burns  to  the 
nethermost  hell.  Blood,  blood,  is  theirs ; the  foundation, 
the  floor,  the  walls,  the  roof  is  stained  with  blood.” 

This  greed  for  gain  is  exemplified  among  all  those  who 
are  interested  in  disseminating  the  drink  in  whatever 
form.  Hard  by  the  manufactory  is  the  public  house, 
and,  indeed,  in  every  town,  village,  and  hamlet  of  the 
land,  these  institutions  are  opened,  in  every  variety  of 
style,  professedly  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people,  but 
primarily  to  get  money  ; and  in  order  to  insure  the  last 
consideration,  a bar  is  thought  to  be  an  indispensable 
requisite.  If  addressed  on  the  importance  of  discontin- 
uing this  part  of  their  business,  because  of  the  demoral- 
izing influence  in  the  community  in  which  they  live,  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


123 


men  who  conduct  them  exclaim,  “ As  well  shut  up  my 
house  as  to  close  my  bar.  It  would  not  pay  ; ” and  so 
there  is  hardly  a place  anywhere  in  the  most  retired  sec- 
tions but  what  affords  the  poison  to  anybody  that  will 
call  for  it.  Those  who  sell  justify  themselves  on  the 
ground  that  they  do  not  ask  the  people  to  come  and  buy  ; 
that  they  only  keep  a supply  to  meet  a demand,  and 
if  men  will  take  and  drink  more  than  is  good  for  them, 
the  consequences  belong  to  them.  Why  should  they 
share  the  responsibility  ? 

It  was  a remark  of  Oliver  Goldsmith’s,  that  he  “ never 
saw  a city  or  village  yet  whose  miseries  were  not  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  its  public  houses.”  The 
crowd  who  loiter  about  these  places  illustrate  very  for- 
cibly the  miserable  tendency  of  the  whole  thing.  • They 
advertise  the  lowest  condition  of  society ; for  it  is  here 
the  idler,  the  lounger  of  every  description,  are  wont  to 
meet,  and  here  congregate  all  those  elements  of  disturb- 
ance which  decent  travellers  feel  like  shunning. 

The  boys  in  the  place  are  apt  to  gather  around,  and 
witness  what  is  going  on,  and  if  they  happon  to  escape 
the  snare  of  the  drunkard,  they  become  familiar  with 
every  kind  of  vulgarity  and  profanity.  The  rum  seller 
himself,  if  he  had  any  mercy  in  his  nature  at  the  begin- 
ning, soon  loses . everything  of  the  sort,  and  spurns  the 
man  from  the  door  that  he  has  helped  to  make  brutish. 

A gentleman  who  was  travelling  put  up  at  a public 
house  in  a country  place,  and  thus  relates  a scefte  which 
came  under  his  observation  at  the  time  : “ While  warm- . 
ing  ourselves  by  the  fite  in  the  bar-room  one  Saturday 
night,  we  observed  the  bar-keeper  dealing  out  liquor  to 
a venerable  man,  who,  with- tremulous  hands,  put  the 
intoxicating  cup  to  his  lips.  He  seemed  intelligent,  was 
well  dressed,  and  had  the  appearance  of  being  a respec- 
table man,  abating  his  intemperance.  We  learned  after- 
8 


124 


» LMTEMPEEAlSrCE, 


wards  that  such  was  his  character  at  home,  and  that  he 
lived  in  an  adjoining  town,  and  was  waiting  for  a con- 
veyance to  take  him  to  the  point  of  his  destination.  At 
midnight  the  man  became  noisy,  to  the  annoyance  of  the 
inmates,  by  reason  of  the  liquor  he  had  received  at  the 
bar ; whereupon  the  bar-keeper,  with  characteristic  be- 
nevolence, turned  him  out  of  doors  to  spend  the  rest 
of  a most  piercing  cold  night  in  the  -street.  The  next 
morning  we  heard  the  bar-keeper  boasting,  with  a fiend- 
like exultation,  how  he  had  disposed  of  ‘ the  noisy  old 
devil.’  We  told  him  it  was  cruel  to  feed  a man  with 
rum  until  he  had  deprived  hifn  of  his  senses,  and  then 
turn  him  out  to  perish  because  he  did  not  aet  as  a rational 
man.  The  fire  had  scarcely  been  kindled  in  the  morn- 
ing, before  the  old  man,  shivering  with  cold,  came  back 
into  the  bar-room,  where  he  was  again  received  as  a good 
customer.  He  formed  one  of  the  bar-room  eompany  all 
the  Sabbath,  alternately  snoring  in  a chair  and  drinking, 
and  acting  like  a maniac.  About  ten  o’clock  Sunday 
night — being  satui-ated  with  rum  — his  hospitable  land- 
lord again  turned  him  out  into  the  street ; and  it  was  an 
intensely  cold  night.  About  an  hour  after  he  was  out, 
a man  eame  in,  who  said  he  had  seen  the  old  fellow  sit- 
ting on  the  ground,  and  had  taken  him  up  and  thrust 
him  into  a tailor’s  shop.  But  for  this  act  of  kindness  he 
would  have  frozen  to  death  in  a verj^  short  time ; and 
here,”  continues  the  traveller,  “is  a specimen  of  the 
tender  mereies  of  the  rum  seller.”  When  the  contents 
of  the  poeket  have  been  dropped  into  their  till,  there  is 
no  more  objeet  for  them  to  gain.  They  will  fill  the  cup 
and  stir  it  well  just  as  long  as  a man  is  eapable  of  hand- 
ing out  the  change,  and  has  enough  wherewith  to  do  it, 
apparently  thinking  not,  or  caring,  what  the  effect  may 
be  upon  those  he  is  robbing  to  enrich  himself.  With  a 
complacent  folding,  of  the  hands,  they  pride  themselves 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSTD  ITS  REMEDY.  '125 

upon  tlie  respectability  of  their  position,  and  are  content 
with  the  basis  of  their  fortune.  Says  a writer,  “ I was 
once  walking  through  a beautiful  country  village,  in 
company  with  a farmer  who  had  all  his  life  resided  in 
the  neighborhood.  The  rural  scenery  around  was  very 
beautiful,  with  here  and  there  touches  of  the  romantic ; 
presently  we  came  to  a very  respectable  looking  public 
house  by  the  road-side.  The  landlady,  a widow,  stood 
at  the  door,  and,  recognizing  my  companion^  nodded  to 
him,  and  he  returned  the  saluation.  The  landlady  was 
a fine,  portly-looking  dame,  with  black  silk  dress,  and 
gold  chain  hanging  down  to  the  waist,  and  altogether  in 
keeping  with  the  house.  I remarked  to  my  companion, 
‘ That  certainly  is  a very  respectable  looking  public  house, 
and  a very  courteous  and  respectable  landlady,  too.’ 
My  companion,  replied,  ‘You  are  quite  correct;  that 
public  house  is  the  most  respectably  conducted  house  in 
this  neighborhood,  and  that  landlady  is  a most  respecta- 
ble woman  ; but  I wish  to  tell  you  something  about  the 
house.  Thirty  years  ago  that  house  was  licensed  for  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and,  year  after  year,  that 
license  has  been  renewed.  Now,  during  those  thirty 
years,  how  many  victims,  think  you,  have  perished  in 
consequence  of  the  drink  obtained  in  that  house  ?■’  Not 
liking  to  hazard  a guess,  he  said,  ‘ Well,  then,  I will  tell 
you.  In  the  course  of  those  thirty  years,  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  thirty  victims  have  perished  most  miserably 
in  consequence  df  liquor  obtained  at  that  house.  Some 
of  them  were  opulent  farmers,  belonging  to  this  neigh- 
hood,  and  others  were  gentlemen  of  independent  for- 
tunes. Some  of  them,  before  their  death,  were  reduced 
almost  to  penury,  and  most  of  them  died  young,  or  in 
the  prime  of  life.  Two  or  three  of  them  were  carried 
out  of  that  house  insensible,  and.  died  in  their  homes 
shortly  afterwards,  and  others  died  of  fever,  or  of 


126 


mTEHIPEKANCE, 


delirium  tremens,  brought  on  by  debauch  at  that 
house.” 

These  are  the  so-called  respectable  dram  shops ; and, 
if  these  are  so  prolific  in  sowing  the  seeds  of  discord  and 
sorrow,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  countless  places  of 
lower  standing,  in  the  more  densely  crowded  towns  and 
villages,  apart  from  rural  surroundings?  There  are 
some  places  where  they  pride  themselves  in  not  selling 
to  drunkards,  but  here  there  is  no  such  restraint.  It  is 
dealt  o\it  indiscriminately  to  the  lowest,  and,  indeerl, 
that  class  constitutes  by  far  the  largest  part  of  their  pat- 
ronage. They  are  generally  in  the  suburbs,  and  dingy 
bottles  are  the  sign  in  the  window.  It  is  here  at  these 
places  that  we  see  the  saddest  sights,  and  observe  the 
worst  phases  of  intemperance  — here,  where  it  is  carried 
so  far  that  poverty  and  wretchedness  tell  their  direst 
tales  in  connection  with  it.  The  poor  who  will  have 
whiskey  go  to  these  shops  — those  who  have  no  pride  or 
self-respect  to  maintain,  who  are  past  earing  for  what 
anybody  may  say  or  think.  There  are  plenty  of  those 
who  are  re.ady  to  minister  to  the  wants  of  such,  for 
money.  Would  any  one  read  the  sequel  to  all  this,  let 
him  go  to  the  homes  and  haunts  of  those  who  tarry  long 
at  these  places.  They  are  usually  out — down  and  apart 
from  others  — for  respectable  people  have  no  sympathy 
with  such  extreme  degradation,  and  so  they  generally 
congregate  in  a community  by  themselves,  and  it  be- 
comes a notorious  quarter,  where  everj'tliing  is  in  keep- 
ing, and  no  well-meaning  person  ever  cares  to  intrude. 
“ Their  houses,”  it  is  said,  “ are  generally  known  by  the 
broken  door-yard  fence ; the  fallen  gate ; the  windows 
stuffed  with  old  hats  and  rags  ; the  clapboards  danghng 
in  the  air ; the  barns  held  up  by  props,  and  stripped  of 
their  boards,  which  have  been  used  for  fuel ; a half- 
starved  horse  standing  in  the  street ; and  several  ragged 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


127 


children,  who,  without  hats  or  shoes,  spend  their  days 
in  dragging  brush-wood  from  the  neighboring  forests,  or 
in  begging  pennies  from  door  to  door,  to  buy  their 
mother  a loaf  of  bread.  The  interior  is  like  unto  it. 
There  is  no  neatness  or  comfort  there ; no  bed  but  one 
of  straw,  laid  on  knotted  ropes ; here  a show  of  a table, 
and  there  a broken  chair ; a half  dozen  broken  plates, 
rusty  knives  and  forks,  and  iron  spoons ; a mug  for 
cider,  and  a bottle  for  rum,  and,  whatever  else  fails, 
these  must  be  replenished.  The  last  thing  will  be 
pawned  to  secure  the  last  drop.  ‘ I have  known  them,’ 
said  a philanthropist  who  visited  these  places,  ‘ to  sell 
the  feathers  from  their  bed,  pound  by  pound,  in  order  to 
secure  the  accustomed  dram.’  Neither  carpet  nor  plaster- 
ing is  in  such  homes.  If  it  is  winter,  the  snow  will  lie 
upon  the  bed,  and  the  mother  and  . her  children  will  be 
seen  huddlhig  over  a few  embers,  as  their  only  refuge. 
Night  comes,  but  no  sound  of  a father’s  voice,  with  com- 
fortable food  to  cheer  and  gladden.  Children  cry  them- 
selves to  sleep.  The  mother  sits  and  watches  until  the 
inoon  goes  down,  and  distant  footsteps  are  heard,  and 
horrid  oaths  are  vented  at  not  finding  the  door,  causing 
her  heart  to  quail ; and  a monster  in  human  shape,  but 
the  father  of  her  children,  bursts  upon  her,  and  perhaps 
drives  her  out  in  the  cold  and  dreary  night,  even  in  a 
pitiless  storm,  compelling  her  to  leave  her  babes  to  his 
neglect  or  cruelty.  Perhaps  the  mother  herself,  driven 
by  despair  and  desperation,  becomes  a victim  to  the 
same  habit,  and  adds  the  last  bitter  ingredient  to  the 
dregs  of  home  misery.  Thus  sowing  the  wind,  they 
reap  the  whirlwind,  and  what  is  transmitted  to  the  chil- 
dren prepares  the  next  generation  for  a kindred  harvest 
of  woe.” 

Perhaps  a more  notable  example  than  the  Five  Points, 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  cannot  be  adduced  to  illustrate 


128 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


what  a place  and  people  may  become  when  given  over 
to  the  full  dominion  of  intemperance  in  its  lowest  form. 
For  years,  the  prominent  feature  in  the  case  was  an  old 
brewery,  that  threw  its  doors  wide  open  to  all  the  sur- 
rounding population  ; and,  if  all  the  foul  spirits  of  the 
nether'  world  had  congregated  there,  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  worse.  A more  ragged,  dirty,  miserable,  beg- 
garly set  never -walked  the  earth'  than  was  seen  there. 
Ignorance,  vice,  and  every  species  of  crime  stalked  defi- 
antly through  all  the  region.  The  dilapidated  buildings 
hardly  covered  their  inmates.  The  very  air  was  laden 
with  shrieks,  wails,  and  oaths.  A respectable  person 
could  not  pass  through  the  quarter  without  having  his 
every  sense  shocked  beyond  measure.  Whiskey  was  the 
one  consideration.  It  showed  itself  in  every  place  and 
every  thing,  'hlany  shunned  it  as  a place  where  human 
life  was  not  safe.  If  any,  urged  by  a feeling  of  pliilan- 
thropy,  were  moved  to  do  anything  to  amehorate  the 
condition  of  the  wretched  inhabitants,  they . felt  that 
they  took  their  lives  in  their  hand  when  they  attempted 
to  do  it.  As  long  as  the  Old  Brewery  stood,  tliis  state 
of  things  continued.  It  did  its  work  as  a minister  of 
death  for  a long  time.  When,  by  the  persistent  efforts 
of  the  wise  and  good,  these  doors  were  closed,  there 
came  a change  over  the  spirit  of  the  place ; and  the 
atmosphere,  so  heavily  charged  with  the  fumes  of  the 
distillery  and  the  poisonous  breath  of  so  many  drunk- 
ards, became  purer,  and  a more  healthful  condition  of 
things  began  to  prevail.  Who  is  responsible  for  all  this  ? 
The  inspired  penman  says,  “Woe  unto  him  that  giveth 
his  neighbor  drink.” 

Here  is  the  worst  aspect  of  the  case  — the  darkest 
side  of  the  picture.  These  are  the  deepest  depths  into 
which  intemperance  can  plunge  its  victims  ; but  it  may 
be  there  is  yet  a phase  of  the  question  that  has  a sadder 


THE  FIVE  POINTS. 


131 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 

hue  than  even  this.  These  persons,  in  the  main,  are 
from  the  lowest  grades  of  humanity,  at  the  best.  While 
it' is  true  that  drink  has  a tendency  to  bring  and  keep 
them  there,  it  is  also  true  that  this  wide-spread  visible 
desolation  is  apparent  more  particularly  among  those 
who  are  naturally  ignorant,  vicious,  and  unprincipled. 
As  persons  of  kindred  tastes,  habits,  and  customs  are 
apt  to  attach  themselves  together,  so  these  people  are 
wont  to  associate  themselves  in  a community,  where 
their  propensities  are  least  liable  to  be  checked  or  dis- 
turbed. In  the  most  favoring  circumstances,  their  moral 
instincts  would  .be  but  feeble,  and  their  higher  apprehen- 
sions narrow  and  slow  ; but,  while  this  does  not  excuse 
them  for  going  so  much  lower  than  they  need  to,  it  may 
stamp  the  fact  with  significance'  that  their  doom  will  not 
be  as  dreadful,  nor  their  guilt  as-  great,  as  those  who  fall 
from  greater  heights,  with  more  of  obligation  upon 
them,  and  more  light  and  knowledge  around  them. 

We  have  said  before  that  the  primary  and  visible 
effects  of  alcohol  were  the  same  in  all  cases ; that  the 
high  and  low,  the  rich  and  poor,  are  alike  in  this  mat- 
ter ; and  yet  there  is  a system  of  caste  here,  where  the 
lines  are  as  rigidly  drawn  as  anywhere  else.  There  is  a 
class  above  these,  who  love  the  sparkling  stimulant  just 
as  well,  perhaps,  but  who  would  not  demean  themselves 
so  much  as  to  hang  about  these  low  places ; and  various 
are  the  artifices  resorted  to,  to  meet  the  wants  of  this 
company.  They  have,  it  may  be,  a sufQcient  moral  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things  to  make  them  hesitate  to  go 
boldly  and  openly  forward  in  their  indulgence ; and 
those  who  are  ready  to  help  them  may  still  have  some 
appreciation  and  fear  of  the  public  sentiment  against 
their  efforts ; so  they  have  a thousand  ingenious  and 
secret  devisings  — a new  and  significant  alphabet,  that 
their  followers  learn,  but  which  common  people  are  not 


182 


INTEMPERANCE, 


supposed  to  understand.  This  not  only  meets  the  wants 
of  those  we  are  referring  to,  but  it  has  become  a fruitful 
means  of  beguilmg  the  unwary,  and  catching  them, 
spider-hke,  in  the  net,  where  they  are  kept  beyond  the 
possibility  of  recovery.  The  great  question  with  the 
dealer  *is,  “ How  can  I increase  the  demand  for  my 
liquor,  so  that  I may  receive  the  profits  arising  from  a 
larger  sale  ? ” Acting  from  this  incentive,  he  tries  every 
sort  of  plan,  and,  having  undertaken  it,  every  baser  pas- 
sion of  his  nature  is  lent  to  the  work.  There  are  a 
great  many  ways  of  doing  the  thing  in  these  modern 
days  — a great  many  novel  arrangements  got  up  to  suit 
the  occasion,  that  show,  at  least,  the  activity  of  mind, 
and  its  wonderful  power  of  adaptation  to  circumstances. 
In  order  to  realize  a grand  pecuniary  consideration,  it 
has  become  a branch  business  with  many  of  various 
trades  and  callings,  and  it  is  amusing^  not  to  say  outrage- 
ous, to  see  the  endless  forms  of  deceit  that  are  manufac- 
tured to  cover  and  beguile.  Grocers  have  opened  side 
doors,  and  printed  on  them  in  large  letters,  “ Sample 
Room.”  What  more  natural  than  to  suppose  such  a 
corner  requisite  for  their  legitimate  trade  ? What  could 
be  less  likely  to  excite  suspicion  under  the  circumstan- 
ces, or  who  would  think  of  questioning  the  motives  of 
the  frequent  visitors  there  ? There  is  always  a way  for 
the  hidden  things  of  darkness  to  come  to  light,  and  so 
it  has  come  to  be  known  that  there  are  thousands  of  just 
such  places  as  these,  where  the  samples  are  only  exhibi- 
tions of  spirits,  that  are  ready  to  be  dealt  out  to  men 
who  would  thus  conceal  their  shame.  Proprietors  of 
country  stores  roll  barrels  into  their  cellars,  and,  by 
some  mysterious  telegraphic  communication,  it  is  known 
among  a certain  class  that  it  is  not  molasses,  or  sugar,  or 
any  such  thing.  They  for  whom  it  is  provided  under- 
stand it  all ; and  there  is  no  corner  of  that  store  that  is 


its'  aspect  AISTD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


133 


so  well  patronized,  for  the  convenience  of  a sly  back 
entrance  is  appreciated. 

To  accomplish  the  object  in  the  least  objectionable 
way,  there  are  bottles  of  multiform  size  and  appearance, 
prepared  with  counterfeit  labels,  which  profess  to  be  the 
mildest  form  of  an  attractive  and  popular  beverage  that 
can  be  offered  to  the  public ; and  this  class  shelter  them- 
selves under  this  style,  secretly  exulting  ill  the  thought 
that  the}’'  are  realizing  their  ambition,  and  blinding  their 
friends.  In  the  cities,  there  are  prominent  rooms  on 
fashionable  streets  that  hold  out  the  sign,  “ Free  Lunch.” 
Does  it  mean  that  some  philanthropist,  mindful  of  the 
wants  and  ways  of  men,  has  gone  systematically  to 
work,  and  fitted  up  rooms  in  the  gayest  and  most  fasci- 
nating manner ; setting  out  tables,  and  furnishing  them 
temptingly,  and  elaborately ; placing  about  them  a score 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  winning  young  ladies  he  could 
command,  to  do  the  attendant  honors ; hiring  a band  of 
music  to  minister  to  the  festivities  of  the  dance,  — does 
he  do  all  this,  and  then  say  to  the  young  men  of  the 
city,  “ I did  this  all  for  you ; it  is  free : come  in,  and 
take  your  fill  of  pleasure”?  Does  it  mean  all  this? 
Ah,  no  ! It  has  a far  different  meaning  from  this.  We 
will  not  call  them  philanthropists,  but  there  are  men 
who  do  all  this  — make  all  this  display  — in  order  to 
hide  the  main  feature  of  their  peculiar  institution.  Out 
of  sight  is  a well-filled  bar,  which  is  the  centre  about 
which  all  these  other  things  are  made  to  revolve.  All 
the  gathered  fascinations  and  attractions  are  as  so  many 
baits  to  allure  men  into  the  net  that  is  spread  for  them. 
Thus  consummate  art  plies  the  work  of  death,  and  vir- 
tue, reputation,  and  every  good  are  sacrificed  at  these 
worse  than  Moloch  shrines. 

But  there  are  yet  some  who  have  not  been  reached. 
The  ^lite  of  the  higher  and  more  aristocratic  circles  are 


134 


INTEMPEEAIJCE,  * 


yet  tintonched.  They  might  scorn  the  idea  of  being 
seen  at  any  of  those  places  we  have  mentioned,  and.  so 
special  provision  has  been  made  for  them.  The  all- 
embracing  arms  of  moneyed  ambition  would  not  leave 
them  out  of  its  grasp.  The  luxurious  appliances  of 
their  own  tables  may  perhaps  serve  for  the  satisfaction 
of  their  OAvn  every-day  wants,  but  when  they  travel 
their  round  of  pleasure,  they -must  stop  at  magnificent 
hotels,  on  broad  avenues,  where  the  lavish  hand  of 
wealth  has  piled  up  luxury  in  a thousand  dainty  forms. 
These  structures  stand  as  so  many  monuments  of  what 
art  and  wealth  can  do,  when  used  and  applied  by  the 
skill,  energy,  industry,  and  peculiar  abihty  of  the  peo- 
ple’s architects.  The  palace-like  arrangements  of  these 
institutions  are  remarkable,  but  there  is  one  thing  in 
which  the  lordly  presiders  are  not  quite  at  their  ease. 
If  they  would'  please  their  customers  altogether,  and 
make  their  vast  scheme  an  entire  success,  they  must 
have  a bar,  and  where  shall  they  put  it  ? The  tone  of 
public  sentiment  is  so  far  against  it  they  dare  not  give  it 
a conspicuous  position  ; so  they  go  far  back  to  the  re- 
motest corner,  or  perchance  hide  it  beneath  in  the  more 
quiet  baseiiieut.  They  give  it  the  elegant  adornments 
befitting  the  character  and  reputation  of  such  a house, 
and  the  aristocratic  man  can  walk  in  and  quaff  his  glass 
in  all  the  et  cetera  of  style.  There  is  no  danger  that 
he  Avill  encounter  the  man  of  low  degree,  for  the  spar- 
kling liquids  that  shimmer  and  shine  in  the  vessels  of 
fanciful  mould  ha^m  too  much  of  gold  in  their  price  to 
admit  of  this.  There  he  will  not  come  in  contact  with 
the  lounging  idler  and  the  reeling  peasantry,  for  the 
marble  floors  and  the  gilded  ceiling  of  those  spacious 
rooms  wei’e  never  designed  for  such  as  these.  The 
polite  and  the  affluent  drinker  alone  must  enter  here. 
The  poison  is  x^oison  stiU,  but  it  is  served  in  daintier 


NEW  YOUK  DANCING  SALOON. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KBMEDY, 


137 


glasses  ; and  the  reality  of  the  difference  is,  it  is  made  to 
do  its  work  in  more  genteel  style.  The  social  wants  of 
this*  class  have  created?  another  demand  — given  rise  to 
an  institution  of  another  character,  hut  which,  has  asso- 
ciated with  it  the  degenerating  influences  of  drink,  and 
that  is  the  “ club-room.”  There  was  a time  in  the  his- 
tory of  England  when  its  metropolitan  city  boasted  of  a 
brighter  galaxy  of  poets  and  literary  men  than  was  ever 
before  known.  ' Never  was  so  much  of -talent  gathered 
together  in  one  place  as  then  and  there.  Never  was 
genius  more  ably  and  brilliantly  represented.  These 
men  were  attracted  to  each  other.  Their  common  in- 
terest in  literary  pursuits  induced  a congeniality  of  spirit 
that  brought  them  often  into  each  other’s  society.  They 
were  invited  to  dine  in  company ; and  their  gay  sallies 
of  wit,  their  pointed  sarcasms  and  brilliant  repartees, 
their  learned  discussions  and  lofty  utterances,  are  mat- 
ters of  history  unto  this  day.  They  formed  themselves 
into  a club,  provided  themselves  with  rooms,  whither 
they  repaired  at  certain  intervals,  and  made  them  places 
of  frequent  resort.  Some  of  these,  profoundly  gifted 
men  carried  champagne  into  these  circles,  and  it  engen- 
dered a free-and-easy  sort  of  life,  that  attracted  the 
social  and  good-natured,  who  wanted  a good  time  in  a 
refined  way.  By  reason  of  the  learning  and  culture 
associated  with  it,  the  club  came  to  hold  a high  rank, 
and  possess  a high  reputation  among  the  literati  for  its 
dignified  exclusiveness.  It  was  a place  where  social  life 
put  oh  its  best  dress.  In  the  ever-increasing  intercourse 
of  this  and  that  country,  we  have  come  into  possession 
of  the  customs  of  that  people  and  that  time.  The 
American  people  are  not  slow  to  ajjpreciate  and  appro- 
priate what  they  deem  advantageous  to  their  life,  and 
the  fascination  which  time  and  distance  have  thrown 
about  this  institution  has  invested  it  with  a peculiar 


138 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


charm  for  them.  What  though  they  dispense  with  the 
characteristic  original  feature,  there  is  still  enough  to  it 
to  form  the  basis  of  something  tlmt  will  compensate  for 
the  slower  and  more  restricted  enjoyments  which  the 
prosy  and  practical  condition  of  the  domestic  circle 
enjoins. 

The  man  of  business,  who  is  poring  all  day  long  over 
columns  of  p^erplexing  figures  and  harassing  ledgers,  is 
glad,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  to  relax  every  nerve,  and 
find  himself  in  a social  atmosphere,  where  every  sense 
of  his  being  is  ministered  unto,  without  any  effort  on  his 
part  to  keep  up  the  excitement.  The  truest  and  best 
moral  action  will  send  such  a man  home  into  the  bosom 
of  his  family  to  find  it  there  ; but,  lamentable  as  it  is, 
there'  are  thousands  who  will  not  do  it,  and  so  these  vol- 
untary organized  clubs  are  formed,  and  furnished  with 
everything  that  genial,  cordial,  and  generous  natures 
can  bring  to  make  them  attractive.  It  may  not  be 
strictly  after  the  European  pattern,  but  it  is  a place 
where  they  can  eat,  smoke,  sing,  dance,  and  be  hilarious 
generally  — a place  where  they  do  forget  their  manhood, 
and  degenerate  into  all  sorts  of  lewd  and  gross  immorali- 
ties. Young  men  going  from  the  country  into  places  of 
business  in  the  city,  for  the  sake  of  a more  extended 
knowledge  of  the  world,  are  often  attracted  to  these 
places,  where  everything  is  so  seductive,  and  they  sel- 
dom come  out  unscorched  by  the  unnatural  condition  of 
things  within.  Drink  has  a conversational,  mirth-pro- 
voking tendency  ; and  the  laughing,  jesting  crowd  come 
to  think  they  have  found  the  joUiest  place  in  all  the 
world,  and  they  go  again  and  again,  until  the  stamp  of 
intemperance  is  written  legibly  upon  them. 

It  is  true  there  are  different  grades  in  these  things. 
They  range  all  the  way  from  the  • affluent  surroundings 
of  the  most  wealthy  to  those  of  far  humbler  pretension ; 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDT. 


139 


but,  in  them  all,  strong  drink  is  working  a general  de- 
moralization, and  only  that  continually.  It  is  to  be 
doubted  if  there  be  a worse  school  for  morals  in  our-  land 
•than  this  ; and  the  results  of  the  object-teaching  in  these 
institutions,  and  the  startling  revelations  in  connection, 
are  such  as  would  make  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters  blush 
and  weep,  if  they  knew  them. 

In  countless  other  ways,  and  in  channels  we  know 
not  of,  the  streams  are  being  fed  that  flow  out,  winding 
their  course  by  all  the  hills  and  through  all  the  vales  of 
the  social  system.  Some  may  exult  in  their  power  to 
carry  on  their  nefarious  traffic,  and  keep  it  hid  from  the 
gaze  of  the  world,  but  they  are  yet  to  be  confronted 
with  the  results  of  what  they  have  done.  The  hearts 
they  have  blighted,  the  hopes  they  have  crushed,  the 
characters  they  have  ruined,  the  reputations  they  have 
blasted,  the  fortunes  they  have  destroyed,  are  all  so 
many  witnesses  against  them.  It  matters  not  so  much 
where  the  work  began,  — whether  among  the  seductive 
influences  of  the  club  or  lunch  room,  or  amid  lower  or 
less  pretentious  surroundings,  — it  is  ultimately  the 
same ; and  he  who  manufactures  and  he  who  aids  in 
the  circulation  are  alike  responsible  for  the  wreck  and 
the  ruin  so  widely  spread. 

All  classes  of  our  people  drink.  It  is  becoming  sadly 
universal.  Why  is  it  ? May  it  not  be  because  there  is 
such  a systematic  effort  to  meet  the  peculiar  wants  of 
each  individual  class  in  its  own  peculiar  way  ? It  is 
true  the  lower  class  are  influenced  a good  deal  by  the 
higher.  It  is  a great  stimulant  to  the  courage  of  the 
poor  and  doubting  man  that  his  master  above  him  does 
the  same  thing  that  he  does.  If  he  had  any  feeling  that 
it  was  wrong,  it  wonderfully  lessens  that  compunction  ; 
for  he  drinks  it  to  drown  care  and.  sorrow,  and  that  man 
has  no  need  to  do  it.  And  here  again  comes  in  the 


140 


INTElVIPEIlA^rCE, 


question  of  responsibility.  Those  who,  by  the  power  of 
their  example,  mislead  others,  and  thus  confirm  them  in 
a habit  they  know  to  be  ruinous,  have  a fearful  account 
to  settle  at  some  time.  It  may  possibly  be  they  may 
know  how  far  they,  can  go  themselves,  and  how  soon 
they  must  stop,  to  keep  them  own  barks  from  flounder- 
ing in  the  deep  waters ; but  the  humbler  craft  may  not 
be  able  to  come  near  that  point  safely.' 

It  has  been  said,  “ If  the  ‘ moderate  drinker  ’ would 
abandon  his  cups,  -within  twelve  years  drunkenness 
would  be  all  but  annihilated.  We  should  only  behold 
here  and  there  a solitary  victim,  holding  out  in  vu’tue  of 
a strong  constitution,  a sad  memorial  of  the  drunken- 
ness of  a by-gone  day.” 

What  a blessed  day  for  the  American  people,  if  all 
this  active  and  complicated  machinery  of  evil  could  be 
laid  aside  in  glorious  disuse  ! A longer  stride  towards 
millennial  glory  could  not  be  taken.  Nothing  that  could 
be  done  would  clothe  the  earth  with  more  of  her  prime- 
val loveliness  than  this ; nothing  that  would  so  effectu- 
ally raise  mankind  to  the  heights  for  which  they  were 
destined,  and  give  a grander  and  more  speedy  fulfilment 
to  the  prophecies  of  coming  good.  May  it  not  be  that 
the  swelling  tides  which  are  filling  the  good  with  so 
much  apprehension  are  to  be  checked,  and  it  shall  be 
written  of  them  and  upon  them,  “ Thus  far  shalt  thou 
go,  and  no  farther  ” ? 


. ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


141 


CHAPTER  X. 

Pkobability  oe  Refoem. 

HOPE  A HIM  STAR.  — THE  YOUNG  LAHY’s  VICTIM.  — INHIVIHUAH  RE- 
FORM. — GOUGH.  — J.  HAWKINS.  — CONFESSION  OF  A CONDEMNED 
CRIMINAL.  — FATHER  OF  THE  REV.  NEWMAN  HALL.  — HOPELESSNESS 
OF  THE  WORK.  — CONFESSION  OP  CHARLES  LAMB.  — SALVATION  NOT 
IN  RECLAIMING  THE  DRUNKARD,  BUT  IN  SAVING  YOUTH  FROM  BE- 
GINNING. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  there  will  be  any  very  ex- 
tended and  thorough  work  of  reforniation  in  a public 
way,  as  long  as  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  ard.ent  spirit 
are  allowed  to  .retain  their  present  position.  As  long  as 
it  is  paraded  at  every  corner,  associated  with  almost  every 
pursuit,  and  intervoven  with  all  the  social  customs  of 
the  times,  where  is  the  probability  that  it  will  fall  into 
disuse,  and  the  immense  flood  of  evil  that  comes  from  it 
be  stayed  in  its  course?  We  talk  of  the  radiant  star  of 
hope,  but  nowhere  does  it  shine  so  dimly  as  here  ; no- 
where else  is  it  obscured  by  clouds  so  • thick  and  dense. 
Good  men  and  women  are  praying  that  the  darkness  may 
be  dispelled ; that  through  -the  pierced  gloom  there  may 
come  a ray  of  light  that  maybe  the  earnest  of  a brighter 
day  that  is  yet  to  dawn  ; that  speedily  the  moral  world 
may  be  illuminated,  and. mankind  elevated  from  this  low 
condition  to  a higher  and  better  life.  To  look  at  it 
in  the  light  of  a wide-spread  public  reforrnation,.  there 
is  a mighty  work  to  be  done.  All  the  aggregated  effort 
of  all  the  present  existing  societies  has  failed  to  do  it  yet. 
They  have  worked  wisely  and  well,  but  it  needs  more  than 


142 


INTEMPERANCE, 


human  hand  to  pluck  up  the  roots  that  have  spread 
themselves  in  every  direction  over  every  part  of  our 
American  soil.  There  needs  to  be  a higher  moral  senti- 
ment. There  is  a work  demanded  on  the  hearts  and 
souls  of  men.  They  need  to  be  swayed  by  an  irresisti- 
ble Torce — a something  superior  to  their  low  appetites 
and  passions,  that  shall  renovate  and  endow  them 
with  power  of  will  to  rend  asunder  the  links  of  that 
chain  which  will  surely  crush  them  in  its  tightening  folds 
unless  they  do.  Hope  cannot  promise  much  as  long  as 
the  usages  of  society  continue  what  they  are.  Just 
as  long  as  the  favorites  of  wealth  and  the  devotees  of 
fashion  will  persist  in  keeping  wines  and  spirits  upon 
their  tables,  just  so  long  is  there  danger  that  those  who 
surround  them  will  be  poisoned,  and  carry  the  infectious 
taint  with  them  wherever  they  go..  Neither  will  this 
danger  be  averted  as  long  as  young  ladies  will  offer  and 
urge  a glass  of  wine  upon  their  friends  at  the  social 
party  or  the  congratulatory  call.  Could  these  things  be 
abolished  altogether,  it  would  be  a long  step  on  the 
march  of  progress.  It  would  be  striking  a blow  at  the 
root,  in  very  many  cases,  and  there  would  be  less  occa- 
sion for  the  poet  to  sing 

“ Man’s  inhumanity  to  man 
Makes  countless  thousands  mourn.’' 

“ A young  man,  of  no  ordinary  promise,  unhappily 
contracted  habits  of  intemperance.  His  excesses  spread 
anguish  and  shame  through  a large  and  most  respectable 
circle.  The  earnest  and  kind  remonstrance  of  friends, 
however,  at  length  led  him  to  desist ; and,  feeling  that 
for  him  to  drink  was  to  die,  he  came  to  a solemn  resolu- 
tion that  he  would  abstain  entirely  for  the  rest  of  his 
days.  Not  long  after  he  was  invited  to  dine,  with  other 
young  persons,  at  the  house  of  a friend.”  Says  the  one 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  EEIIEDT. 


143 


who  tells  the  story,  with  emphatic  iitternace,  “ Did  I say 
friend  ? Pardon  me  ; he  could  hardly  be  a friend  who 
would  deliberately  place  on  the  table  before  one  so  lately 
lost,  now  so  marvellously  redeemed,  the  treacherous  in- 
strument of  his  downfall.  But  so  it  was.  The  wine 
was  in  their  feasts.  He  withstood  the  fascination,  how- 
ever, until  a young  lady,  whom  he  desired  to  please, 
challenged  him  to  drink.  He  refused.  With  banter  and 
ridicule  she  soon  cheated  him  out  of  all  his  noble  purposes, 
and  her  challenge  was  accepted.  Pie  no  sooner  drank 
than  he  felt  the  demon  was  still  alive,  and  that  from  tem- 
porary sleep  he  was  now  waking  with  tenfold  strength. 
‘ Now,’  said  he  to  a friend  who  sat  next  to  him,  ‘ now 
I have  tasted  again,  and  I drink  till  I die.’  The  awful 
pledge  was  kept.  Not  ten  days  had  passed  before  that 
ill-fated  youth  fell  under  the  horrors  of  delirium  tremens, 
and  was  borne  to  a grave  of  shame  and  dark  despair.’’ 
“And  who,”  says  the  writer  of  the  sad  tale,  “would 
envy  the  emotions  .with  which  that  young  lady,  if  not 
wholly  dead  to  duty  and  to  pity,  retraced  her  part  in  a 
scene  of  gayety,  which  smiled  only  to  betray  ? ” Sad  as 
it  is,  the  young  ladies  themselves  are  falling  under  the 
power  of  these  pernicious  habits,  and  it  is  confidently 
asserted,  on  reliable  authority,  that  there  are  many  in 
the  highest  circles-so  given  to  indulgence  in  this  direction 
that  they  actually  come  under  the  condemnation  of  the 
drunkard.  Startling  as  the  fact  may  appear,  it  is  de-. 
dared  that  “ nearly  two  thousand  of  the  applicants 
for  admission  to  the  inebriate  asylum  at  Binghamton 
have  been  rich  men’s  daughters  ; and  it  is  a truth  equally 
astounding,  that  these  favored  ones  of  fortune  will  travel 
in  foreign  countries,  and  be  seen  in  such  condition  as  to 
need  some  one  to  steady  their  faltering  steps  through 
the  streets.  Dash  every  trace  of  the  stimulating  bev- 
erage from  the  tables  of  the  rich,  and  it  is  believed 
9 


144 


IXTEMPERAXCE, 


that  this  most  forbidding  form  of  intemperance  would 
cease  to  exist.  By  a well-known  principle,  reformation 
Avorks  downward.  The  lower  are  always  imitating  the 
higher,  and  an  influence  emanating  from  above  would 
gradually  be  felt  upon  those  below. 

But,  deferring  the  considerations  of  public  reforma- 
tion mostly  to  another  place,  we  propose  to  have  mainly 
to  do  Avith  individual  reformation  in  the  present  chapter  ; 
to  behold  the  difficulties  and  probabilities  of  this,  when 
once  a man  is  under  the  full  dominion  of  the  habit, 
and  to  see  hoAV,  in  the  practical  illustration,  if  it  be  not 
utterly  impossible,  it  approximates  closely  to  it.  There 
are  notable  instances  of  men  Avho  have  been  rescued 
from  the  lowest  pit,  and  have  become  shinmg  lights  — 
a marvel  to  themselves  and  everybody  else  ; but  who 
does  not  knoAV  that  thej^  stand  upon  ground  that  is  ever 
after  quaking  under  their  feet  ? 

Gough  AA'as  one  of  these  ; but  it  was  long  he  liA'ed  in 
utter  dread  and  distrust  of  himself,  lest  his  strength  of 
will  and  firmness  of  purpose  should  not  be  sufficient  in 
the  day  of  his  temptation.  He  Avas  afraid  of  himself ; 
and  who  shall  tell  the  horror  of  this  trembling  apprehen- 
sion as  it  haunts  a man  in  all  his  Avalks  and  AA'ays  ? A 
continual  Avatching  and  battling  is  necessary  all  the  time, 
even  after  it  seems  the  giant  has  been  effectually  slain ; 
and  in  the  first  bitterness  of  the  contest  there  are  no 
words  to  paint  the  torturing  helxfiessness  of  the  condi- 
tion. John  Hawkins  thus  tells  the  story  of  his  life  when 
he  first  made  an  attempt  to  free  himself  from  the  bonds 
which  had  enslaved  him  so  long.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  he  was  a confirmed  drunkard.  “ He  wandered  far 
off  from  his  friends,  to  the  West,  where  he  suffered 
every  eAul  from  poverty,  vice,  and  degradation : lived 
years  in  Baltimore,  Avithout  providing  food  or  clothing 
for  his  family  — a - living  death  to  them.”  “ My  wife,” 


SidNINd  'I'lli;  I'l.KIK 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


145 


he  says,  “ would  sit  up  for  me  until  midnight,  and  watch 
to  see  whether  I came  home  drunk  or  sober.  Often 
have  I fallen  prostrate  in  the  hall,  and  my  little  daughter 
would  cover  me  with  a blanket  until  the  morning  light. 
In  June,  1840,  I drank  and  suffered  aAAdully — I can’t 
tell  how  much  I suffered  in  mind  — in  body  everything, 
but  in  mind  more.  I drank  dreadfully  the  first  tAvo 
weeks  in  June  — bought  by  the  gallon,  and  drank,  drank, 
and  was  about  taking  my  life  — was  drunk  all  the  time. 
On  the  14th,  I Avas  aAvonder  to  myself ; astonished  I had 
any  mind  left ; and  yet,  in  the  goodness  of  God,  it 
seemed  uncommonly  clear.  I lay  in  bed  long  after 
my  wife  and  daughter  Avere  up,  and  my  conscience  drove 
me  to  madness.  I hated  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and 
when  light  came  I hated  the  light.  I hated  myself  — 
my  existence.  I asked  myself,  ‘ Can  I refrain  ? is  it 
possible  ? ’ I felt  there  was  not  a being  to  take  me  by 
the  hand,  and  say.  You  can.  I felt  that  1 had  made  my- 
self friendless  •,  that  I was  without  help  or  light  — an 
outcast ; and  for  a time  the  overAvhelming  conviction 
maddened  me.  I had  a pint  of  Avhiskey,  and  thought  I 
would  drink  ; and  yet  I knew  it  was  life  or  death  with 
me  as  I decided.  I had  ahvays  loved  my  daughter,  and 
I felt  that  if  I had  a friend  on  the  earth  at  all,  it  was 
she.  As  she  came  into  the  room,  she  said,  ‘ Father, 
don’t  send  me  after  any  more  whiskey  to-day.’  I Aras 
tormented  before,  but  this  was  an  unexpected  torture. 
I commanded  her  to  leave  the  chamber,  and  she  went 
away  A^ith  her  eyes  filled  Avith  tears.  I coA'^ered  myself 
in  the  bed  to  hide  myself  away  from  the  sight  or  sound  of 
a living  thing,  but  more  especially  from  my  own  loath- 
some self.  I .then  thought  of  my  past  life,  my  degrada- 
tion, misery  of  my  friends,  and  felt  bad  enough.  Hear- 
ing  a noise  in  the  room,  I looked  out  and  saw  my 
daughter  again  present.  Calling  her  to  me,  I said,  ‘ I am 


146 


rtsTTEMPEEANCnS, 


not  an^y  with  yon,  and  I shall  not  chink  any  more.’ 
As  we  mingled  oiu’  tears  together,  I arose  and  went  to 
the  cupboard,  looked  at  the  enemy,  and  thought.  Is  it 
^ possible  I can  be  restored  ? and  then  turned  my  back 
upon  it.  Several  times,  while  dressing,  I looked  at  the 
bottle,  but  thought  I should  be  lost  if  I yielded.  No  one 
coidd  be  worse  off  than  I Avas,  no  more  degraded,  no 
more  a slave  to  appetite.  Soon  after,  I went  to  the  So- 
ciety for  Drunkards,  and  there  I found  all  my  old  bottle 
companions.  I told  no  one,  not  even  my  family,  that  I 
was  going.  I felt  that  I had  taken  the  first  steps  in  the 
way  of  reform,  but  I was  by  no  means  persuaded  that  I 
could  keep  on  in  the  way.  There  I met  those  with 
whom  I had  fished,  caroused,  and  got  drunk.  In  that 
condition  we  had  stuck  together  like  brothers ; and  now 
they  laughed,  clapped,  and  shouted,  ‘ Here  is  Hawkins, 
the  regulator,  the  old  hruiser.'  But  there  AAms  no  response 
in  me  for  all  this.  I was  too  sober  and  solemn  for  that. 
The  pledge  was  read  for  my  accommodation.  They  did 
not  say  anything,  but  I knew  they  were  looking  over 
my  shoulder  to  see  if  I really  would  Avrite  my  name. 
I never  had  such  feehngs  before.  It  was  a great 
battle.  I once  fought  the  battle  at  North  Point,  and 
helped  to  run  aAvay,  too  ; but  now  there  Avas  no  such  al- 
ternative. I found  the  society  had  a large  pitcher  of 
water,  drank  toasts,  and  told  experiences ; and  there  I 
laid  my  plan,  for  I did  not  intend  to  be  a drone.  Al- 
cohol had  promised  me  everything,  but  I had  found  it  to 
be  a great  deceiver,  and  there  was  no  way  but  to  wage 
eternal  war  against  • it,  and  I determined  to  do  it.  At 
eleven  o’clock  I went  home.  Before,  when  I had  staid 
out  late,  I had  gone  to  my  home  thoroughly  intoxicated, 
and  my  wife  was  watching  for  the  same  result,  and  was 
planning  some  measure  that  yv'ould  free  her  from  the  in- 
creasing Avretchedness.  My  yard  is  coA'ered  with  brick, 


ITS  ASPECT  AED  ITS  REMEDY. 


149. 


and  as  I went  over  this,  she  listened,  as  she  afterwards 
told  me,  to  determine  whether  the  gate  door  opened 
drunk  or  sober ; for  she  had  learned  to  distinguish  the 
peculiarity  of  sound  that  marked  the  condition.  She 
was  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room  as  I entered; 
and,  convinced  that  soberness  was  in  the  ascendant,  she 
greeted  me  with  a smile,  that  I involuntarily  returned.  ‘ I 
had  put  my  name  to  the  Temperance  Pledge,  never  to 
drink  again  as  long  as  I hve,’  said  I.  We  both  wept 
until  our  weeping  awoke  our  daughter,  and  then  we 
cried  all  together ; and  there  was  no  sorrow  in  those 
tears  but  those  wrung  out  by  the  fear  of  relapse.  I tell 
you  this,”  he  says,  “ that  you  may  know  how  hapj)y  the 
reformation  of  a drunkard  makes  his  famil3^  I slept 
none  that  night ; my  thoughts  were  better  than  sleep. 
Next  morning,  I went  to  see  my  aged  mother — her  who 
had  been  praying  twenty  years  for  her  drunken  son;  and 
as  I told  her,  she  exclaimed,  with  unutterable  joy  in  her 
face,  ‘ It  is  enough  ; I am  now  ready  to  die.’  ” 

If  such  be  the  joj’  of  a single  soul  — of  a single 
household — at  the  first  dawnings  of  hope,  what  a loud- 
sounding  anthem  would  it  be  that  should  celebrate  the 
restoration  of  the  larger  number  that  are  sighing  and 
waiting  for  the  same  blessed  redemption ! What  a 
glad  era  it  would  be  for  our  domestic  prosperity,  could 
these  scenes  be  multiplied  all  over  the  land  ! 

A young  man  was  convicted  of  murder,  and  while 
confined  in  jail,  under  sentence  of  death,  he  wrote  a let- 
ter to  warn  others  against  a similar  fate.  The  act  had 
been  committed  while  under  the  influence  of  strong 
drink,  but  the  law  held  him  responsible  ; and  his  story 
is  but  a repetition  of  the  fact  that  it  takes  away  reason, 
and  goads  on  to  madness  and  destruction  continually. 
He  writes,  “ O that  I could  only  portray  the  horrors 
springing  from  the  first  glass  ! You  would  shun  it  as  you 


150 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


would  the  road  in  which  Death,  in  his  most  hideous  form, 
was  lurking.  Would  to  God  I had  died  before  I knew 
the  love  or  passion  strong  drink  can  bring  to  its  poor, 
deluded  victims  ; for  then  I would  have  had  kind  friends 
to  weep  and  think  kindly  of  me,  as,  in  solemn  silence, 
they  gazed  into  my  tomb. 

“ O,  young  man  ! by  all  that  you  hold  dear,  shun  the 
cup  — the  fatal  cup  ! You  may  think  you  are  able  to 
take  a drink  and  leave  it  alone  when  you  wish ; let  me 
entreat  you,  don’t  try  the  experiment,  for  when  it  gets 
hold  it  rarely  ever  lets  go.  It  not  only  destroys  you,  but 
friends  must  suffer  also.  Think  well  before  you  touch 
the  cup.  Don’t  say,  ‘ I can  take  a drink  and  leave 
off ; ’ the  chances  are  against  you. 

“Would  to  God  that  one  year  ago  I could  have  seen 
strong  drink  as  it  really  is,  stripped  of  all  the  ornaments 
thrown  over  it  by  those  engaged  in  the  traffic  I — could 
have  seen  it  as  a swift  and  sure  road  that  was  to  lead  to 
my  unhappy  condition  in  a felon’s  cell,  with  the  prospect 
of  a shameful  death  ! 

“ jNIy  hands  are  ironed,  irons  are  on  1113^  limbs,  and  I 
am  chained  to  the  floor ; and  whiske3’  has  done  it  all.  I 
have  lost  friends,  character,  home,  all  that  makes  life 
dear,  b}^  not  saying,  No ! when  asked  to  drink.  I could 
have  said  it.  God  gave  me  understanding  ; I Jcnew  right 
from  wrong  ; but  I flattered  mj^self  I could  go  so  far,  and 
then  rein  up  : now  I am  lost.  Don’t  believe  in  moderate 
drinking ; there  is  too  much  danger  in  it.  There  is  no 
drunkard  living  biit  thought  he  could  leave  off  when  he 
wished.  Say  jmu  that,  ‘ Man}' drink,  and  do  not  what 
I have  done  ? ’ All  true  — but  none  do  as  I did  but  what 
drink  — not  one.  All  say  at  first,  “ Whiskey  shall  not  be 
my  master ; I am  too  much  of  a man  for  that.’  How 
soon  they  find  out  that  he  who  said,  ‘ Wine  is  a mocker, 
strong  drink  is  raging,  and  he  that  is  deceived  thereby 


ITS  ASPECT  Airo  ITS  EEMEDY. 


151 


is  not  wise,’  knew  more  akout  it  than  they  ! It  will 
hold  one  in  fetters  that  are  well  nigh  impossible  to 
wrench  off.  There  is  no  other  way  in  which  the  refor- 
mation of  these  advanced  drinkers  can  be  secured  but 
by  abstaining  altogether.  A little  will  keep  the  flame 
forever  burning,  and  it  is  so  hard  to  come  to  the-  conclu- 
sion — not  a ch-op  — when  habit  cries  out  so  strongly  for 
the  indulgence  ! ” 

The  father  of  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall  was  an  intem- 
perate man.  The  narrative  of  his  experience  has  come 
before  the  world,  under  the  title  “ The  Rescued  Brand.” 
He  was  an  infidel  and  a drunkard,  but  was  won  over  to 
the  true  faith  and  to  a life  of  soberness  when  he  seemed 
almost  beyond  hope. 

It  is  such  a striking  and  illustrious  example  of  a true 
reformation,  and  withal  illustrates  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing it  so  clearly,  we  give  a sketch  of  his  life,  as  pre- 
sented by  his  son  : “ When  a young  man,  at  Maidstone, 
his  business  pursuits  placed  him  in  circumstances  of 
great  temptation.  Lively,  amiable,  generous,  a genial 
companion,  enjo3dng  a sprightly  joke,  and  singing  a 
merry  song,  his  society  was  much  sought  after.  Social 
enjoyments  were  invariably  connected  with  the  free  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors.  He  was  thus  led  astray,  and 
‘ erred  through  strong  drink.’  Of  his  companions  he 
informs  us,  ‘ In  the  town  where  I reside  were  twelve 
young  men,  who  were  accustomed,  early  in  life,  to  meet 
together  for  indulgence  in  drinking,  and  all  manner  of 
excess.  In  the  course  of  time  some  of  them  engaged  in 
business  ; but  their  habits  of  sin  were  so  entwined  with 
their  very  existence  that  they  became  bankrupts.  Eight 
of  them  died  under  the  age  of  forty,  without  a hope  be- 
3"ond  the  grave  ; three  others  were  reduced  to  the  most 
abject  poverty.  Two  of  these  had  formerly  moved  in 
very  respectable  circles,  but  they  are  now  in  the  most 


152- 


rNTEjVIPERAiTCB, 


miserable  state  of  poverty,  wretchedness,  and  dis- 
grace.’ 

“ Of  this  party  he  was  a sort  of  ringleader,  taking  the 
head  of  the  table  at  convivial  meetings,  and  sitting  up 
whole  nights  drinking,  and  inducing  others  to  do  the 
same  — never  going  to  bed  sober.  He  was  an  infidel,  a 
disciple  of  Tom  Paine,  both  in  principle  and  practice,  a 
blasphemer  of  the  word  of  God,  yet  a good-natured  man, 
who  would  do  anybody  a kindness.  At  length  he  went  to 
reside  at  a distance,  where,  for  a time,  he  refrained  from 
dissipation,  was  married,  and  everything  seemed  prosper- 
ous around  him ; but,  instead  of  being  thankful  to  God 
for  his  mercy,  and  watching  against  his  besetting  sin,  he 
gave  way  to  his  old  propensity.  One  dark  night,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Stourbridge,  he  had  been  drinking. 
The  road  he  took  went  over  a canal ; he  missed  tlie 
bridge,  and  rolled  down  the  bank  to  the  edge  of  the 
water.  And  here  he  seemed  to  have  arrived  at  the  end 
of  his  wicked  course ; but  God,  wlro  is  rich  in  mercy, 
had  caused  a stone  to  lie  direct!}^  in  his  path,  and  thus 
spared  him  ; one  turn  more,  and  he  would  have  plunged 
into  hell.  His  senses  returned  for  a moment ; and, 
seeing  the  water  beneath  him,  he  craAvled  back  again 
into  the  road ; there  he  was  picked  up,  and  lodged 
in  a public  house  for  the  night.  This  was  considered 
merely  as  a lucky  escape,  and  he  continued  to  pursue 
his  career  of  sin  as  ardently  as  before.  There  were  then 
no  Total  Abstinence  Societies  to  shield  him.  "When 
every  one  drank,  Avas  it  to  be  expected  he  Avould  ab- 
stain ? The  advice  generally  given  was,  ‘ Use,  but  not 
abuse.’  Yet  with  his  peculiar  temperament  and  habits, 
one  glass  would  so  rouse  his  appetite  that  self-control 
was  gone,  and  he  rushed  forward  to  the  abj’ss  AA'hich, 
when  perfectly  sober,  he  abhorred. 

“ One  of  these  sad  relapses  occurred  on  the  occasion  of 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEIMEDY. 


153 


a young  minister  visiting  at  his  house,  and  taking  brandy 
and  water . at  luncheon.  Thinking  there  could  be  no 
harm  in  following  such  an  example,  he  filled  his  own 
glass,  and  was  again  overcome.  After  a course  of  drink- 
ing for  some  days,  having  come  to  his  senses,  he  began  to 
reason  with  himself  on  his  guilt  arid  folly ; and,  in  an 
angry,  passionate  manner,  he  muttered,  ‘ O,  it’s  no  use 
for  me  to  repent  — my  sins  are  too  great  to  be  forgiven.’ 
He  had  no  sooner  uttered  these  words,  than  a voice 
seemed  to  say,  with  strong  emphasis,  ‘ If  thou  wilt  for- 
sake thy  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven.’  The  poor  man 
started  at  what  he  believed  to  be  a real  sound,  and  has- 
tily turned  round;  but  seeing  no  one,  he  said  to  himself, 
‘ Surely  I have  been  drinking  until  I am  going  mad.’ 
He  fell  on  his  knees,  and,  half-suffocated  by  his  feelings, 
he  cried,  ‘ O God,  be  merciful  to  me  a sinner  ! ’ At  this 
vbry  time,  special  prayer  was  being  offered  on  his  behalf 
by  his  wife  and  others.  The  poor  wretch  .was  broken- 
hearted ; and  now  his  besetting  sin  appeared  more  hor- 
rible than  ever;  but  it  mast  be  conquered,  or  he  must 
perish.  Then  commenced  a contest  more  terrible  than 
that  of  conflicting  armies ; the  soul  was  at  stake  ; an 
impetuous  torrent  was  to  be  turned  in  an  opposite  course. 
He  noAV  began  to  search  the  Bible,  which  he  had  once 
despised.  Here  he  saw  that  crimson  and  scarlet  sins 
could  be  blotted  out ; that  the  grace  of  God  was  all- 
sufQeient.  He  refrained  from  intemperance,  commenced 
family  prayer,  and  hope  again  revived.  But  his  deadly 
foe  still  pursued  him,  and  he  was  again  overcome.  Now, 
his  disgrace  and  sinfulness  appeared  worse  than  ever, 
and  with  melancholy  feeling,  he  cried  out,  in  anguish  of 
spirit,  that  he  was  doomed  to  eternal  misery,  and  it  Avas 
useless  to  try  to  avert  his  fate.  His  cruel  eneiu}'-  took 
this  opportunity  to  suggest  to  his  mind  that  he  had  so 
disgraced  himself  that  it  would  be  better  to  get  rid  of 


154 


INTEJCPEEAiTCE, 


his  life  at  once.  The  razor  was  in  his  hand ; hut  the 
Sj)irit  of  the  Lord  interposed,  and  the  weapon  fell  to  the 
ground.  He  would  sometimes  refrain  for  days  and  weeks, 
and  then  again  he  was  as  had  as  ever.  All  hope  seemed 
now  to  he  gone  ; and  especially,  when,  one  day,  after  hav- 
ing heen  brought  into  great  weakness  through  intempe- 
rance, death  seemed  to  he  yery  near.  Not  a moment  was 
to  he  lost ; he  cast  himself  once  more  at  the  footstool  of 
his  long-insulted  Creator,  and,  with  an  intensity  of 
agony,  cried  out,  ‘ Hear,  O Lord,  and  have  mercy  upon 
me  : Lord,  he  thou  my  helper.’  He  sank  down  exhaust- 
ed ; he  could  say  no  more,  hut  that  prayer  was  heard. 

“ A physician  was  consulted  as  to  the  possihility  of  med- 
icine being  rendered  effectual  to  cure  his  intemperance. 
The  poor  man  would  have  suffered  the  amputation  of  all 
his  limbs,  could  so  severe  a method  have  rid  him  of  his 
deadly  habit.  Tlie  phj’sician  declared  that  if  he  would 
strictly  adhere  to  his  prescription,  not  only  the  practice, 
hut  the  very  inclination  for  strong  drink  would  subside 
in  a few  months.  The  remedy  was  a preparation  of 
steel ; and  eagerly  did  he  begin  to  devour  the  antidote 
to  his  misery.  Every  bottle  was  taken  with  an  earnest 
prayer  to  God  for  his  blessing  to  accompany  it.  In  a 
private  box,  opened  after  his  decease,  a small  parcel  was 
found,  on  Avhich  was  written,  ‘ The  mercy  of  God  un- 
speakable to  J.  V.  H.’  It  contained  a phial  bottle  in 
which  Avas  a little  sediment,  and  the  following  affecting 
document : ‘ This  jAhial  is  one  (of  upward  of  three  hun- 
dred) of  those  out  of  wiiich  J.  V.  H.  drank  a preparation 
of  steel,  in  the  year  1816.  It  is  preserved,  like  the  pot 
of  manna,  to  shoAV  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  delAered 
his  servant  out  of  the  Avilderness  — out  of  a horrible 
pit  — out  of  his  besetting  sin.  O,  praised  be  tire  Lord.’ 
When  this  prescription  was  first  taken,  wine  and  spirits 
were  gAen  up.  But  it  Avas  found  that  beer  was  sufid- 


ITS  ASPECT  AICD  ITS  EEJEEDY. 


155 


cient  to  excite  the  morbid  propensity.  After  several 
failures  from  this  cause,  beer,  also,  was  rehnquished. 
Then  it  was,  and  not  until  then,  that  the  cure  was  com- 
plete ; and  from  that  day  to  the  day  of  his  death,  being 
a period  of  forty-two  years,  not  so  much  as  a spoonful 
of  spirituous  liquors,  or  wine  of  any  description,  ever 
passed  the  surface  of  that  man’s  tongue.” 

In  him  reformation  did  its  full  work  eventually,  and 
he  became  an  earnest  and  efficient  worker  in  every  good 
cause  ; but  no  one  but  the  man  himself  can  tell  the  price 
at  which  it  was  purchased.  Once,  while  ill  of  typhus 
fever,  the  physician  proposed  wine  as  an  essential  rem- 
edy for  his  restoration ; but  he  rejected  the  idea,  and 
declared  he  “ woxild  rather  die.” 

An  accident  led  to  his  decease  in  his  eighty-seventh 
year.  A slight  operation  was  followed  by  erysipelas. 
Again  xvine  was  recommended.  Mr.  Hall,  who  had  been 
lying  in  a state  of  great  weakness,  apparently  unaware  of 
what  was  said,  emphatically  groaned  out,  “Never!  nev- 
er! ” A fexv  days  before  his  departure  he  said  to  his  son, 
“Newman,  if  you  jxreacli  a funeral  sermon  for  me,  your 
text  must  be,  ‘ Is  not  this  a brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire  ’?  ” 

There  is  nothing  but  divine  power,  in  connection  with 
total  abstinence,  that  can  bring  up  these  lowly-fallen 
ones  to  the  true  level  of  virtuous  manhood  again.  It 
requires  the  most  powerful  considerations  that  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  a man’s  heart  and  conscience  to 
make  him  turn  backward,  when  he  has  once  reached  the 
foot  of  the  lull.  The  almost  superhuman  effort  that  is 
involved  in  climbing  up  again,  makes  the  poor  man  feel 
that  it  is  easier  to  go  with  the  current  of  his  passions,  and 
keep  on  sliding  ; and  the  probability  is,  that  he  Avill  con- 
tinue his  drams,  if  it  be  but  to  bury  the  accusations  that 
taunt  him  in  every  sane  moment.  We  know  of  a young 
man  who  would  awake  after  a night’s  revellings  with 


156 


rIsrTEMPEEA2^CE, 


tlie  bitter  cry  “ I wish  I was  in  heaven  I ” So  utterly 
powerless  did  he  feel  himself  to  be  in  overcoming  his 
propensity,  that  he  regarded  everything  unsafe  until  he 
could  be  freed  from  the  body,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
temptation.  Perhaps  he  overlooked  the  important  con- 
sideration that  there  is  no  salvation  for  these  wilfully 
perverted  ones.  The  consciousness  of  being  fettered 
was  upon  him,  and  the  torment  and  friction  of  this  in- 
duced the  despairing  cry.  He  was  promising,  talented, 
the  pride  of  his  parents,  and  might  greatly  have  adorned 
the  ministerial  profession  for  which  he  was  designed, 
had  he  not  yielded,  as  so  many  do,  to  the  solicitations 
of. boon  companions.  It  is  to  be  hoped  he  began  the 
work  of  reform  before  it  was  too  late ; but  none  such 
can  stand  where  they  might  have  stood  had  they  re- 
mained strangers  to  the  degrading  process.  It  burns  out 
all  the  freshness  and  vigor  of  a man’s  character,  and 
when  he  would  come  up,  it  requires  the  constant  appro- 
priation of  all  his  energies  to  keep  himself  on  the  right 
track.  If  he  could  have  this  same  strength  and  energy 
to  spend  in  blessing  others,  the  cultivation  of  the  moral 
vineyard  would  be  very  different  from  what  it  is  now. 
Charles  Lamb,  in  his  “ Essays  of  Elia  ” has  given  the 
“Confessions  of  a Drunkard,”  in  which  he  vividly  de- 
picts the  meaning  of  reform  as  applied  to  the  individual 
soul.  This  brilliant  English  essayist  was  in  the  habit 
of  taking  a great  deal  of  wine  at  his  table,  and  it  was 
not  uncommon  for  him  to  doze  away  his  after-dinner 
hours  under  its  stupefying  influence. 

“ Kindly,  upright,  and  witty,”  he  was  a pleasant  com- 
panion for  a large  and  gay  circle.  His  amusing  sallies 
and  humorous  jokes  always  commanded  attention,  and 
this,  wdth  his  general  culture,  made  him  universally 
popular.  But  here  was  his  faihng  — he  could  not  pass 
by  the  door  of  a'  country  tavern  in  his  walks  but  he 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEIMEDY. 


157 


must  enter  for  a draught.  It  is  said  that  often,  while 
he  was  walking  with  the  youthful  and  accomplished 
daughter  of  Sheridan'  Knowles,  she  was  often  left  out- 
side the  haunts  of  gin,  while  he  could  gratify  his  insa- 
tiable thirst  — a thirst  more  powerful  than  love,  and 
more  beguiling  than  affection.  Not  until  young  ladies 
cease  to  smile  upon  such  as  these  will  the  star  of  hope 
be  in  the  ascendant,  and  the  matter  of  reform  assume 
the  importance  it  demands. 

The  result  of  the  convictions  of  this  famed  writer  we 
give  in  his  own  emphatic  language. 

“ Dehortations  from  the  use  of  strong  liquors  have 
been  the  favorite  topic  of  sober  declaimers  in  all  ages, 
and  have  been  received  with  abundance  of  applause  by 
water-drinking  critics.  But  with  the  patient  himself, 
the  man  that  is  to  be  cured,  unfortunately,  their  sound 
has  seldom  prevailed.  Yet  the  evil  is  acknowledged, 
the  remedy  simple.  Abstahi.  No  force  can  oblige  a man 
to  raise  the  glass  to  his  head  against  his  will.  ’Tis  as 
easy  as  not  to  steal  — not  to  tell  lies.  Alas  ! the  hand  to 
pilfer,  and  the  tongue  to  bear  false  witness,  have  no  con- 
stitutional tendency.  These  are  actions  indifferent  to 
them.  At  the  first  instance  of  the  reformed  v/ill,  they  can 
be  brought' off  without  a murmur.  The  itching  finger  is 
but  a figure  of  speech,  and  the  tongue  of  the  liar  can 
v/ith  the  same  natural  delight  give  forth  useful  truths, 
with  which  it  has  been  accustomed  to  scatter  then’  per- 
nicious contraries.  But  when  a man  has  commenced 
sot  — O pause,  thou  surly  moralist,  thou  person  of 
strong  nerves  and  a strong  head,  whose  liver  is  hap- 
pily untouched,  and  ere  thy  gorge  riseth  at  the  name 
which  I have  written,  first  learn  what  the  thing  is ; how 
much  of  compassion,  how  much  of  human  allowance, 
thou  mayst  vh’tuously  mingle  with  thy  disapprobation. 
Trample  not  on  the  ruins  of  a man.  Exact  not,  under 


158. 


INTEm^EEAi^CE, 


SO  terrible  a penalty  as  infamy,  a resuscitation  from  a 
state  of  death  almost  as  real  as  that  from  which  Lazarus 
rose  not  but  by  a miracle.  Begin  a reformation,  and 
custom  will  make  it  easy. 

“ But  what  if  the  beginning  be  dreadful,  the  first  steps 
not  like  climbing  a mountain,  but  like  going  through 
fire  ? What  if  the  whole  system  must  undergo  a change 
violent  as  that  which  we  conceive  of  the  mutation  of 
form  in  some  insects  ? What  if  a process  comparable  to 
flaying  alive  be  to  be  gone  through  ? Is  the  weakness 
that  sinks  under  such  struggles  to  be  confounded  with 
the  pertinacity  tvhich  clings  to  other  vices,  which  have 
induced  no  constitutional  necessity,  no  engagement  of 
the  whole  victim,  body  and  soul  ? 

“I  have  known  one  in  that  state,  when  he  had  tried 
to  abstain  but  for  one  evening,  — though  the  poisonous 
potion  had  long  ceased  to  bring  back  its  first  enchant- 
ment, though  he  was  sure  it  would  rather  deepen  his 
gloom  than  brighten  it,  — in  the  violence  of  the  strug- 
gle, and  the  necessity  he  has  felt  of  getting  rid  of  the 
present  sensation  at  any  rate,  — I have  known  him  to 
scream  out,  to  cry  aloud,  for  the  anguish  and  pain  of 
the  strife  within  him.  Why  should  I hesitate  to  declare 
that  the  man  of  whom  I speak  is  myself?  I have  no 
puling  apology  to  make  to  mankind.  I see  them  all,  in 
one  way  or  another,  deviating  from  the  pure  reasoir.  It 
is.  to  my  own  nature  alone  I am  accountable  for  the  woe 
that  I have  brought  upon  it.  I believe  that  there  are 
constitutions,  robust  heads  and  iron  insides,  whom  scarce 
any  excesses  can  hurt ; whom  brandy  (I  have  seen  them 
drink  it  like  wine),  at  all  events,  whom  wine,  taken  in 
ever  so  plentiful  a manner,  can  do  no  worse  injury  to, 
than  just  to  muddle  their  faculties,  perhaps  never  very 
.pellucid.  On  them  this  discourse  is  wasted.  They  would 
but  laugh  at  a Aveak  brother,  who,  trying  his  strength 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


159 


■with  them,  and  coming  off  foiled  from  the  contest,  would 
fain  persuade  them  that  suhh  agonistic  exercises  are  dan- 
gerous. It  is  to  a very  different  description  of  persons 
that  I speak.  It  is  to  the  weak,  the  nervous,  to  those 
who  feel  the  want  of  some  artificial  aid  to  raise  their 
spirits  in  society  to  what  is  no  more  than  the  ordinary 
pitch  of  all  around  them  without  it.  This  is  the  secret 
of  our  drinking.  Such  must  fly  the  convivial  hoard  in 
the  first  instance,  if  they  do  not  mean  to  sell  themselves 
for  the  term  of  life.  Twelve  years  ago  I had  completed 
my  six  and  twentieth  year.  I had  lived  from  the  period 
of  leaving  school  to  that  time  pretty  much  in  solitude. 
My  companions  were  chiefly  books,  or,  at  most,  one  or 
two  living  ones  of  my  own  book-loving  and  sober  stamp. 
I rose  early,  went  to  bed  betimes  ; and  the  faculties  which 
God  had  given  me,  I have  reason  to  think,  did  not  rust 
in  me  unused.  About  that  time  I fell  in  Avith  some  com- 
panions of  a different  order.  They  Avere  men  of  boister- 
ous spirits,  sitters-up  a-nights,  disputants,  drunken,  yet 
seemed  to  have  something  noble  about  them.  We  dealt 
about  the  wit,  or  Avhat  passed  for  it,  after  midnight, 
jovially.  Of  the  quality  called  fancy,  I certainly  pos- 
sessed a larger  share  than  my  companions.  Encouraged 
by  their  applause,  I set  up  for  a professed  joker  ! I,  who 
of  all  men  am  least  fitted  for  such  an  occupation,  having, 
in  addition  to  the  greatest  difficulty  Avhich  I experienced 
at  all  times  of  finding  words  to  express  my  meaning,  a 
natural  nervous  impediment  in  my  speech ! Reader,  if 
you  are  gifted  Avith  nerves  like  mine,  aspire  to  any 
character  but  that  of  a wit.  When  you  find  a tickling 
relish  upon  your  tongue,  disposing  you  to  that  sort  of 
conversation,  especially  if  you  find  a preternatural  flow 
of  ideas  settling  in  upon  you  at  the  sight  of  a bottle  and 
fresh  glasses,  avoid  giving  way  to  it,  as  you  would  fly 
your  greatest  destruction.  If  you  cannot  crush  the 


160 


INTEMPERANCE, 


power  of  fancy,  or  that  within  you  wliich  you  mistake 
for  such,  divert  it,  give  it  some  other  play.  Write  an 
essay,  pen  a character  or  description,  — hut  not,  as  I do 
now,  with  tears  trickling  down  your  cheeks. 

“ To  be  an  object  of  compassion  to  friends,  of  derision 
to  foes  ; to  be  suspected  by  strangers,  stared  at  by  fools  ; 
to  be  esteemed  dull  when  3"ou  cannot  be  witty ; to  be 
applauded  for  witty  when  you  know  that  j’ou  have  been- 
dull ; to  be  called  upon  for  the  extemporaneous  exercise 
of  that  faculty  which  no  premeditation  can  give ; to  be 
spurred  on  to  efforts  which  end  in  contempt ; to  be  set 
on  to  jirovoke  mirth,  which  procures  tlie  procurer  ha- 
tred ; to  give  pleasure,  and  be  paid  with  squinting 
malice ; to  swallow  draughts  of  life-desti’Ojdng  wine, 
which  are  to  be  distilled  into  airy  breath  to  tickle  vain 
auditors ; to  mortgage  miserable  morrows  for  nights  of 
madness ; to  waste  whole  seas  of  time  upon  those  who 
pay  it  back  in  little  inconsiderable  drops  of  grudging 
applause,  — are  the  wages  of  buffooneiy  and  death. 

“ Time,  which  has  a sure  stroke  at  dissolving  all  con- 
nections Avhich  have  no  solider  fastening  than  this  liquid 
cement,  more  kind  to  me  than  my  own  taste  or  penetra- 
tion, at  length  opened  my  eyes  to  the  supposed,  qualities 
of  my  first  friends.  No  traces  of  them  is  left  but  in  the 
vices  which  they  introduced,  and  the  habits  they  infixed. 
In  them  m3-  friends  survive  still,  and  exercise  ample  ret- 
ribution for  any  supposed  infidelity  that  I ma}-  have  been 
guilty  of  toAvards  them. 

■ “ My  next  more  immediate  companions  were,  and  are, 
j)ersons  of  such  intrinsic  and  felt  worth,  that,  though  ac- 
cidentall}-  their  acquaintance  has  proved  pernicious  to 
me,  I do  not  knoAV  that  if  the  thing  were  to  do  over 
again,  I should  haA^e  the  courage  to  eschcAV  the  mischief 
at  the  price  of  forfeiting  the  benefit.  I came  to  them 
reeking  from  the  steams  of  my  late  overheated  notions 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  REMEDY. 


161 


of  companionship  ; and  the  slightest  fuel  which  they  un- 
consciously afforded  was  sufficient  to  feed  my  old  fires 
into  a propensity.  They  were  no  drinkers,  but  one  from 
professional  habits,  and  another  from  a custom  derived 
from_  his  father,  smoked  tobacco.  The  devil  could  not 
have  devised  a more  subtle  trap  to  retake  a backsliding 
penitent.  The  transition  from  gulping  down  draughts 
of  liquid  fire,  to 'puffing  out  innocuous  blasts  of  dry 
smoke,  was  so  like  cheating  him.  But  he  is  too  hard 
for  us,  when  we  hope  to  commute.  He  beats  us  at  bar- 
ter ; and  when  we  think  to  set  off  a new  failing  against 
an  old  infirmity,  ’tis  odds  but  he  puts  the  trick  upon  us 
for  two  to  one. 

“ That  (comparatively)  white  devil  of  tobaeco  brought 
with  him,  in  the  end,  seven  worse  than  himself.  It  were 
impertinent  to  carry  the  reader  through  all  the  processes 
by  which,  from  smoking'  at  first  with  malt  liquor,  I 
took  my  degrees  through  thin  wines,  through  stronger 
wine  and  water,  through  small  puneh,  to  those  juggling 
compositions,  which,  under  the  name  of  mixed  liquors, 
slur  a great  deal  of  brandy,  or  other  poison,  under  less 
and  less  water  continually,  until  they  come  next  to  none, 
and  so  to  none  at  all.  But  it  is  hateful  to  disclose  the 
secrets  of  my  Tartarus. 

“Persons  not  accustomed  to  examine  the  motives  of 
their  actions,  to  reckon  up  the  countless  nails  that  rivet 
the  chains  of  habit,  or  perhaps  being  bound  by  none  so 
obdurate  as  those  I have  confessed  to,  may  recoil  from 
this  as  an  overcharged  picture.  But  what  short  of  such 
a bondage  is  it,  which  in  spite  of  protesting  friends,  a 
weeping  wife,  and  a reprobating  world,  chains  down 
many  a poor  fellow,  of  no  original  indisposition  to  good- 
ness, to  his  pqDe  and  his  pot  ? ■ 

“ I have  seen  a print,  after  Correggio,  in  which  three 
female  figures  are  ministering  to  a man  who  sits  fast 
bound  at  the  root  of  a tree.  Sensuality  is  soothing  him, 
10 


162 


INTEJ.IPEEANCB, 


Evil  Habit  is  nailing  him  to  a branch,  and  Repugnance, 
at  the  same  instant  of  time,  is  applying  a snake  to  his 
side.  In  his  face  .is  feeble  delight,  the  recollection  of 
past,  rather  than  perception  of  present  pleasures ; languid 
enjoyment  of  evil,  with -utter  imbecility  to  good  ; a Syb- 
aritic effeminacy,  a submission  to  bondage  ; the  springs 
of  the  will  gone  down  like  a broken  clock,  the  sin  and 
the  suffering  co-instantaneous,  or  the  latter  forerunning 
the  former,  remorse  preceding  action,  — all  this  rej)re- 
sented  in  one  point  of  time.  When  I saw  this,  I ad- 
mired the  wonderful  skill  of  the  painter.  But  when  I 
went  away,  I wept,  because  I thought  of  my  own  con- 
dition. Of  that  there  is  no  hope  that  it  will  ever  change. 
The  waters  have  gone  over  me.  -But  out  of  the  black 
depths,  could  I be  heard,  I Would  ciy  out  to  all  those 
who  have  but  set  a foot  in  .the  perilous  flood.  Could  the 
youth,  to  whom  the  flavor  of  his  first  wine  is  delicious 
as  the  opening  scenes  of  life,  as  the  entering  upon  some 
newly-discovered  paradise,  look  into  my  desolation,  and 
be  made  to  understand  what  a drearj^  thing  it  is,  when 
a man  shall  feel  himself  going  down  a precipice  with 
open  eyes  and  a passive  will ; to  see  his  destruction, 
and  have  no  power  to  stop  it,  and  yet  to  feel  it  all  the 
way  emanating  from  himself ; to  perceive  all  goodness 
emptied  out  of  him,  and  3*et  not  to  be  able  to  forget  a 
time  when  it  was  otherwise ; to  bear  about  the  piteous 
spectacle  of  his  own  self-ruins ; — could  he  see  my  fevered 
eye,  feverish  with  last  night’s  drinking,  and  feverishly 
looking  for  this  night’s  repetition  of  the  folly ; could  he 
feel  the  body  of  the  death  out  of  which  I cry  each  hour 
with  feebler  and  feebler  outcry  to  be  delivered, — it  were 
enough  to  make  him  dash  the  sparkling  beverage  to  the 
earth  in  all  the  pride  of  its  mantling  temptation;  to 
make  him 

‘ Clasp  liis  teeth,  and  not  undo  ’em, 

To  sutfer  wet  Damnation  to  run  thro’  ’em.’ 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BBJMEDY. 


163 


“Yea!  liut  (methiiiks  I hear  somehod}'-  object)  if  so- 
briety be  that  fine  thing  you  would  have  us  to  under- 
stand, if  the  comforts  of  a cool  brain  are  to  be  preferred 
to  that  state  of  heated  excitement  which  you  describe 
and  deplore,  what  hinders,  in  your  own  instance,  that 
you  do  not  return  to  those  habits  from  which  you  would 
induce  others  never  to  swerve  ? If  the  blessing  be  worth 
preserving,  is  it  not  worth  recovering  ? 

'•'■Recovering  ! O,  if  a wish  could  transport  me  back  to 
those  days  of  youth,  when  a draught  from  the  next  -clear 
spring  could  slake  any  heats  which  summer  suns  and 
youthful  exercise  had  power  to  stir  up  in  the  blood,  how 
gladly  would  I return  to  the  pure  element,  the  drink  of 
children,  and  of  child-like,  holy  hermit.  In  my  dreams 
I can  sometimes  fancy  the  cool  refreshment  purling  over 
my  burning  tongue.  But  my  waking  stomach  rejects  it. 
That  which  refreshes  innocence  only  makes  me  sick  and 
faint.  But  is  there  no  middle  wa}^  betwixt  total  absti- 
nence and  the  excess  which  kills  you?  For  your  sake,, 
reader,  and  that  you  may  never  attain  to  my  experience, 
with  pain  I must  utter  the  dreadful  truth,  that  there  is 
none  — none  that  I can  find.  In  my  stage  of -habit  (I 
speak  not  of  habits  less  confirmed,  for  some  of  them  I 
believe  the  advice  to  be  most  prudential)  in  the  stage 
which  I have  reached,  to  stop  short  of  that  measure 
which  is  sufficient  to  draw  on  torpor  and  sleep,  the  be- 
numbing, apoplectic  ■ sleep  of  the  drunkard  is  to  have 
taken  none  at  all. 

“ The  pain  of  the  self-denial  is  all  one.  And  what  that 
is,  I had  rather  the  reader  should  believe  on  my  credit, 
than  know  from  his  own  trial.  He  will  come  to  know  it 
whenever  he  shall  arrive  at  that  state,  in  which,  para- 
doxical as  it  may  appear,  reason  shall  only  visit  him 
through  intoxication ; for  it  is  a fearful  truth  that  the 
intellectual  faculties,  by  repeated  acts  of  intemperance, 


164  “ 


IN  TEIIPEE  A2SrCE, 


may  be  driven  from  their  orderly  sphere  of  action,  their 
clear  daylight  ministries,  until  they  shall  be  brought  at 
last  to  depend,  for  the  faint  manifestation  of  their  de- 
parting energies,  upon  the  returning  periods  of  the  fatal 
madness  to  Avhich  they  owe  their  devastation.  The 
drinking  man  is  never  less  himself  than  during  iiis  sober 
intervals.  Evil  is  so  far  his  good.* 

“ Behold  me,  then,  in  the  robust  period  of  life,  reduced 
to  imbecility  and  decay.  Hear  me  count  my  gains, 
and  the  profits  I have  derived  from  the  midnight  cup. 
Twelve  years  ago  I was  possessed  of  a healthy  frame 
of  mind  and  body.  I was  never  strong,  but  I think  my 
constitution  (for  a weak  one)  was  as  happily  exempt 
from  the  tendency  to  any  malady  as  it  was  possible  to 
be.  I scarcely  knew  what  it  was  to  ail  in  anything. 
Now,  except  when  I am  losing  myself  in  a sea  of  drink, 
I am  never  free  from  those  uneasy  sensations  in  head 
and  stomach  wliich  are  so  much  worse  to  bear  than 
any  definite  pains  or  aches.  At  that  time  I was  sel- 
dom in  bed  after  six  in  the  rhorning,  summer  or  winter. 
I awoke  refreshed,  and  seldom  without  some  merry 
thoughts  in  my  head,  or  some  piece  of  a song  to  wel- 
come the  new-born  day.  Now,  the  first  feeling  which 
besets  me,  after  stretching  out  the  hours  of  recumbence 
to  their  last  possible  extent,  is  a forecast  of  the  weari- 
some day  that  lies  before  me,  with  a secret  wish  that  I 
could  have  lain  on  still,  or  never  awaked.  Life  itself — 
my  waking  life, — has  much  of  the  confusion,  the  trouble, 
and  obscure  perplexity  of  an  ill  dream.  In  the  daytime 
I stumble  upon  dark  mountains.  Business,  which,  though 

* “ When  poor  Mr. painted  his  last  picture,  with  a pencil  in  one  frcm- 

bling  hand  and  a glass  of  brandy  and  water  in  the  other,  his  fingers  owed 
the  comparative  steadiness  with  which  they  were  enabled  to  go  through  their 
task,  in  an  imperfect  manner,  to  a temporary  firmness  derived  from  a repe- 
tition of  practices,  the  general  effect  of  which  had  shaken  both  them  and  him 
SO  terribly. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY, 


165 


never  particularly  adapted  to  my  nature,  yet  as  some- 
thing of  necessity  to  be  gone  through,  and  therefore  best 
undertaken  with  cheerfulness,  I used  to  enter  upon  with 
some  degree  of  alacrity,  now  wearies,  affrights,  perplexes 
me.  I fancy  all  sorts  of  discouragements,  and  I am  ready 
to  give  up  an  occupation  which  gives  me  bread,  from  a 
harassing  conceit  of  incapacity.  The.  slightest  commis- 
sion given  me  by  a friend,  or  any  small  duty  -which  I 
have  to  perform  for  myself,  — as  giving  orders  to  a 
tradesman,  &c.,  — haunts  me  as  a labor  impossible  to  be 
got  through.  So  much  the  springs  of  action  are  broken. 

“ The  same  cowardice  attends  me  in  all  my  intercourse 
with  mankind.  I dare  not  promise  that  a friend’s  honor, 
or  his  cause  would  he  safe  in  my  keeping,  if  I were  put 
to  the  expense  of  any  manly  resolution  in  defending  it. 
So  much  the  springs  of  moral  action  are  deadened  within 
me.  My  favorite  occupations  in  times  past  now  cease  to 
entertain.  I can  do  nothing  readily.  . Application,  for 
ever  so  short  a time,  kills  me.  This  poor  abstract  of  my 
condition  was  penned  at  long  intervals,  with  scarcely 
any  attempt  at  connection  of  thought,  which  is  now  so 
difficult  to  me.  The  noble  passages  which  formerly  de- 
lighted me  in  history  or  poetic  fiction,  now  only  draw  a 
few  weak  tears,  allied  to  dotage.  My  broken  and  dis- 
pirited nature  seems  to  sink  before  anything  great  and 
admirable.  I perpetually  catch  myself  in  tears,  for  any 
cause,  or  none.  It  is  inexpressible  how  much  this  infir- 
mity adds  to  a sense  of  shame,  and  a general  feeling  of 
deterioration.  These  are  some  of  the  instances,  con- 
cerning which  I can  say  with  truth,  that  it  was  not 
always  so  with  me.  Shall  I lift  up  the  veil  of  my  weak- 
ness any  further?  or  is  this  disclosure  sufficient? 

“ I am  a poor,  nameless  egotist,  who  have  no  vanity 
to  consult  by  these  confessions.  I know  not  whether  I 
shall  be  laughed  at,  or  heard  seriously.  Such  as  they 


166 


■ INTEMPEKA^rCE, 


are,  I commend  them  to  the  reader’s  attention,  if  he 
finds  his  own  case  any  way  touched.  I have  told  him 
what  I am  come  to.  Let  him  stop  in  time.” 

A more  melancholy,  heart-rending  confession  of  the 
influences  of  drink  upon  the  whole  man  could  scarcely 
be  given  than  is  found  in  this  recital.  The  love  of  it  is 
as  though  the  poisonous  fangs  of  a viper  had  been  fas- 
tened upon  the  whole  system,  disfiguiing  and  paralyzing 
it  beyond  all  cure. 

It  is  true  that  now  and  then  one  is.  freed  from  this 
terrible  power  of  the  enemy,  and  restored  to  society  and 
friends  again  ; but  we  see  what  it  costs.  If  those  in  the 
higher  walks  of  life,  who  are  surrounded  with  every  ad- 
vantage, and  have  every  inducement  to  cast  off  their 
shackles,  and  take  their  rightful  and  enviable  position 
among  the  Avorthy,  the  educated,  and  refined,  — if  these 
find  it  so  hard  to  begin  and  continue  the  work  of  reform 
Avith  themselves,  what  shall  we  say  of  those  in  the  lower 
conditions  of  society,  Avho  have  but  little  inotive  and 
little  encouragement  to  undertake  the  herculean  task  ? 

O 

There  are  multitudes  of  such  noAV  who  will  go  on  their 
Avay  unchecked ; persons  that  are  Aveak  and  irresolute 
by  nature  ; those  Avho  luiA’e  been  ambitionless  and  inefiS- 
cient  always,  and  haA’e  made  themselA’es  more  so  by  their 
habits.  There  is  but  little  hope  that  these  will  ever 
exercise  the  requisite  energy  and  decision  to  meet  the 
emergenc}'-  of  reform.  If  the  fallen  pillars  of  Temperance 
are  to  be  raised  again  to  their  true  position,  it  belongs  to 
the  youth  of  the  present  day  to  begin  the  Avork.  Those 
Avho  haA'e  already  formed  the  habit  of  drinking  cannot  be 
relied  upon  at  all  to  aid  in  the  enterprise.  They  may 
make  an  occasional  spasmodic  effort,  but  the  chances  are, 
that  they  Avill  prove  a hinderance,  and  not  a help.  Our 
hope  of  reformation  lies  not  so  much  in  reclaiming  the 
drunkard,  as  in  saving  those  Avho  haA^e  neA'er  tasted. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


16T 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Blighting  Effects -upon  Society. 

CELESTIAL  INQUIRER. — CLAIMS  OF  THE  LIQUOR  FIEND. — INTEMPER- 
ANCE PRODUCES  POVERTY.  — ’INCIDENT  IVITH  A BOSTON  LECTURER.  

FRUITFUL  SOURCE  OF  PAUPERISM. THE  “SOCIAL  EVIL”  STIMU- 
LATES THE  MURDBROUS  PROPENSITY.  PROMPTS  TO  SUICIDE.  

OPPOSES  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.  INDUCES  PROFANITY.  THE  EN- 

EMY OF  THE  MISSIONARY. — THE  INDIAN’S  PROTEST.  —APPEAL  TO 
THE  CHURCH. 

“ Where  are  they  lost, 

If  of  such  incubi  we  count  the  cost? 

Jails,  hospitals-,  madhouses  — they  know  well ; 

And  poorhouses  o’ercrowded  — they  can  tell.” 

The  imagination  of  a modern  writer  has  met  a visitant 
from  the  heights  above  who  thus  accosted  him:  “Stran- 
ger! inhabitant  of  the  earth!  what  mean  those  dark,  un- 
sightly dens  which  I see  scattered  so  frequently  in  the 
dells  and  corners  of  the  earth,  that  send  forth  vapor, 
and  fire,  and  smoke,  and  stench  ? I see  the  busy  mul- 
titude wending  their  way  thither  from  every  point,  laden 
with  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  which  were  evidently  de- 
signed by  the  beneficent  Creator  for  the  sustenance  of 
man,  and  casting  their  burdens,  unhesitatingly,  into  the 
fiery  crater.  Again  I have  looked  to  see  if  anything  was 
borne  away  from  these  receptacles  from  which  I might 
infer  that  the  fruits  of  the  earth  had  been  worked  over, 
and  better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  man.  But,  though 
long  I’ve  looked  with  painful  eyes,  I’ve  looked  in  vain. 
But  I see  issuing  from  every  one  of  them,  through  dark, 
leaden  pipes,  certain  fiery  streams.  These  flow  out  into 


168 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


numerous  reservoirs  ; and  then,  in  innumerable  smaller 
streams,  they  are  conveyed  to  your  cities,  and  towns,  and 
villages,  and  all  over  your  vast  prairies,  over  your  hills, 
and  through  your  valleys,  to  almost  every  habitation  of 
man.  I see  the  multitude  everywhere  eager  for  its  ap- 
proach, and  opening  their  houses,  and  their  mouths  even, 
to  receive  the  fiery  fluid.  I see  the  aged  and  the  young^ 
the  decrepit  and  the  healthy,  the  male  and  the  female, 
the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  plunging, 
with  desperate  strides,  into  the  stream,  and  gorging  them- 
selves therefrom.  I see  parents  laving  their  children 
with  it,  and,  ever  and  anon,  pouring  it  down  their  necks  ; 
and  the  delicate  female,  even,  receiving  it  to  her  bps  ; 
hut  the  effects  which  I perceive  inevitably  to  follow  upon 
coming  in  contact  with  these  streams,  perplex  and  trouble 
me  much.”  And  so  they  go  on,  in  alternate  inquiry  and 
reply,  until,  having  surveyed  the  whole  ground,  the  airy 
visitor  pronounces  the  whole  thing  as  “ the  work  of  the 
devil,  — Satan’s  greatest  masterpiece, — his  metamor- 
phosis, by  which  brutes  are  made  of  the  best  material,  — 
by  means  of  which,  more  than  by  any  other  instrumental- 
ity, he  keeps  up  his  dark  dominion  over  men  ; ” and  he 
blesses  God  “ that  there  are  no  railways,  or  steam-power 
by  which  these  fatal  streams  can  be  conducted,  or  electro- 
magnetic telegraph,  by  which  the  art  of  making  them 
can  be  conveyed  to  his  own  beautiful  and  happy  world.” 
But  it  needeth  not  the  clear  vision  of  a celestial  being  to 
discover  the  sad  workings  and  fearful  ravages  of  this 
mighty  agent.  It  is  too  apparent  to  the  view  of  ordi- 
nary mortals  to  be  questioned  at  all.  Even  a cursory 
glance  reveals  all  that  the  pure-eyed  stranger  saw.  The 
deplorable  effects  upon  individuals,  and  society  at  large, 
waken  corresponding  emotions  in  the  hearts  of  all  the 
good,  and  they  mourn  over  the  fact  that  their  fellow- 
men  will  lend  their  support  to  means  that  are  so  dire  in 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  . 169 

their  consequences.  But  what  are  those  consequences  ? 
Hear  what  liquor  — the  foul  fiend — hath  been  made  to 
say : “ Hear,  all  ye  people  of  the  world ! Hear ! I 
claim  the  right . to  load  the  bodies  of  men  with  a slow, 
lingering  disease,  so  that  after  ten  years  of  suffering  they 
shall  die  some  horrible  and  disgraceful  death,  at  the  rate 
of  one  hundred  thousand  a year.  I claim  the  right  to 
injure  the  minds  of  men,  so  as  to  send  twelve  thousand 
raving  maniacs  to  the  lunatic  asylum,  and  twelve  thou- 
sand more  to  the  asylum  for  idiots.  I claim  the  right  to 
so  madden  the  people  with  ungovernable  frenzy,  as  to 
make,  six  Imndred  kill  themselves,  but,  before  they  die, 
to  kill,  with  heartless  ferocity,  four  hundred  victims,  and 
make  six  hundred  more  perish  with  fierce  and  wild  de- 
luium.  I claim  the  right,  during  these  ten  years  these 
people  are  drinking  themselves  to  death,  to  send  one 
hundred  thousand  of  them  to  the  hospitals  with  disease, 
to  make  them  squander  their  money  and  their  property, 
and  the  money  and  property  of  their  families,  and  waste 
their  time  and  shorten  their  lives,  amounting  to  three 
million  years  of  life  and  industry.  I claim  the  right, 
during  the  same  ten  years,  to  cause  the  people  to  commit 
a vast  number  of  heinous  crimes  and  offences,  so  as  to 
keep  twenty  thousand  in  the  state  prisons  of  the  land, 
and  to  cause  two  hundred  thousand  petty  crimes  and 
misdemeanors  against  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society, 
and  make  them  harsh  and  cruel  to  their  once  loved  wives 
and  helpless  babes.  I claim  the  right  to  make  five  hun- 
dred thousand  paiqjers  and  beggars,  so  as  to  crush  out 
their  dignity  and  self-respect,  and  blight  their  hopes  for- 
ever. I claim  the  right  to  destroy  with  midnight  flames 
a vast  amount  of  property,  by  land  and  by  sea.  I claim 
the  right  to  tax  the  honest  and  temperate  people  of  the 
country,  without  their  consent,  to  pay  for  all  these  woes 
and  calamities,  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  million 


170 


INTEMPEE  ANCE, 


dollars  a year.  I claim  the  right  to  refuse  to  pay  more 
than  one  twentieth  of  the  taxes  which  the  laws  of  the 
land  have  assessed  as  my  share,  and  the  right  to  force 
honest  people  to  pay  them  for  me.  I claim  to  be  above 
the  law  and  beyond  the  law.  I claim  the  right  to  dwarf 
the  intellect  and  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  people,  and 
corrupt  the  hearts  of  the  lawgivers,  and  corrupt  those 
whom  the  people  elect  to  enforce  the  laws.  And  I not 
only  claim  these  rights,  hut  in  the  name  <of  wickedness, 
my  birthright,  and  depravity,  my  acquired  knowledge, 
and  passion,  my  strength,  and  covetousness,  the  grand 
aim  of  my  life,  I will  exercise  these  rights,  law  or  no 
law,  for  I have  usurped  the  authority  to  rule  and  ruin 
the  earth.” 

Would  that  these  extravagant  claims  were  hut  a fic- 
tion of  the  imagination  — the  over-heated  fancies  of 
loud  and  enthusiastic  declaimers  ; but  society  appends 
ample  testimony  to  their  rigid  enforcement.  On 
every  page  of  its  history  the  .sad  truth  is  confirmed. 
Statistics  declare,  in  startling  tones,  that  it  is  all  true  ; 
and  what  is  more,  it  is  written  everywhere,  in  legible 
characters,  upon  the  broad  surface  of  suffering  humanity. 
Society  is  what  homes  and  hearts  make  it.  Its  general 
tone  and  character  are  according  to  the  condition  of 
these.  If  the  streams  which  issue  from  thence  he  limpid 
and  clear,  in  corresponding  degree  will  society  mirror 
forth  the  same  hkeness.  On  the  contrary,  it  shadows 
the  darker  picture,  and  reproduces  all  the  tints  in  ever- 
widening  effect. 

Society  is  cursed  by  the  poverty  which  the  love  of 
strong  drink  engenders.  Aside  from  the  more  strongly 
marked  forms  of  this  evil,  there  is  another  aspect,  which 
involves  a vast  amount  of  suffering  ; and  that  is  found  in 
the  well-to-do  famihes,  who  in  every  respect  would  be 
favorably  situated  but  for  harboring  the  demon  of  in- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


171 


temperance.  The  Hon.  Edward  Everett  once  said, 
“ A wealthy  drunkard  may  have  self-coiitrol  enough  to 
manage  his  property,-  and  honesty  enough  to  keep  out 
of  jail.  He  may  fill  what  is  called  a genteel  position  in 
society,  and  yet  he  may  be  the  very  tyrant  of  his  house- 
hold; never  pleased,  never  soothed,  never  gratified,  when 
the  utmost  has  been  done  by  everybody  to  gratify  him ; 
often  turbulent  and  outrageous,  sometimes  cruel ; the 
terror  of  those  he  is  bound  to  protect,  the  shame  of  those 
who  would  love  him  if  they  could.  A creature  of  this 
sort  does  not  take  refuge  in  a poorhouse,  or  drive  his 
family  to  it ; but  the  coarsest  and  hardest  crust  broken 
within  its  walls  is  a dainty,  compared  with  the  luxuries 
of  his  cheerless  table.” 

There  may  be  an  honest  dread  of  being  ranked  with  the 
inmates  of  the  poorhouse  ; but  the  poverty  outside  these 
institutions  that  come  by  the  way  of  intemperate  habits 
is  greater,  in  the  amount  of  suffering  which  it  occasions, 
than  that  Avhich  is  seen  in  those.  “ To  the  victims  of 
drunkenness,  whom  it  has  conducted  to  this  sad  refuge, 
one  bitter  ingredient  in  the  cup  is  spared.  The  sense  of 
honest  shame,  and  the  struggle  of  a commendable  pride, 
are  at  length  over.  They  can  sink  no  lower,  mid  may 
possibly  become  reconciled  to  their  hard  lot.”  But  in 
these  other  cases  it  is  different.  They  conceal  their 
woes,  their  self-denials,  from  the  world  as  long  as  may 
be,  and  too  often  broken  hearts  end  the  sad  scenes. 
There  is  the  seen  and  the  unseen  — the  public  and  the 
private.  The  want  and  the  woe  that  begin  in  the  bosom 
of  the  family  flow  out  over  the  whole  social  area.  How 
much  richer  would  society  be  to-day  but  for  the  treasure 
that  drink  has  robbed  it  of  ! The  money  that  is  used  by 
the  accursed  passion  of  the  inebriate,  and  the  tipplings 
of  the  moderate  drinker,  togetherwith  the  amount  neces- 
sary to  check  the  natural  outgrowth  of  all  this,  would 


172 


INTEilPEEANCE, 


cover  society  with  a richer  mantle  than  it  ever  yet  has 
known,  if  it  could  be  used  for  its  adornment.  We  have 
seen  how  the  lovers  of  drink  will  spend  the  last  cent  of 
their  earnings  for  the  gratification  of  their  ruling  passion, 
regardless  of  the  piteous  cries  and  pleas  of  those  nearest 
to'  them  ; and  of  course  such  as  these  utterly  ignore  the 
claims  of  society  upon  them,  and  so  the  many  sutler 
privation  through  them.  Says  a ■ gentleman  lecturer, 
“We  were  addressing  a Band  of  Hope  in  Boston  on  one 
of  the  coldest  evenings  of  last  winter.  During  the 
progress  of  the  meeting,  a drunkard  entered  the  hall  and 
took  a seat  near  the  door.  He  was  a young  man,  about 
thirty-two  years  of  age,  and  he  listened  with  deep  at- 
tention to  the  remarks.  At  the  close  of  the  exercises, 
when  the  congregation  had  passed  out,  so  that  he  could 
approach  the  desk,  he  advanced  and  grasped  the  speaker’s 
hand,  while  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks,  and  his 
whole  frame  shook  with  convulsive  sobs,  saying,  in  a 
sepxdchral  tone  that  was  truly  startling,  ‘ I am  a drun- 
kard beyond  recovery'  Observing  his  high,  intellectual 
forehead,  that  indicated  marked  native  intelligence  and 
manhood,  we  answered,  ‘ You  look  as  if  you  might  be 
saved,  and  as  if  you  were  worth  saving.’  He  replied  only, 
in  a tone  that  was  still  more  affecting,  ‘ I am  a drunkard 
beyond  recoveiy.’  And  to  prove  that  his  reformation 
was  impossible,  on  account  of  the  terrific  power  of  his 
appetite,  he  flung  open  the  ragged  coat  that  was  but- 
toned around  him,  disclosing  that  lie  had  neither  shirt  nor 
vest.  ‘ I sold  my  shirt  for  rum  to-day,’  said  he.  Then 
lifting  up  his  right  foot,  to  show  that  he  was  destitute  of 
stockings,  he  added,  ‘ I sold  my  stockings  for  rum  to- 
day ; and  this  is  the  way  I have  obtained  my  rum,’  he 
continued,  ‘ ever  since  last  August,  when  I returned 
from  the  army.  I beg  a coat  of  one  kind  man,  and  then 
pawn  it  for  rum ; then  a vest,  and  then  a shu  t,  go  in 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


17-3 


the  same  way,  their  places  being  soon  supphed  by  beg; 
ging  other  garments.’  ” 

And  this  is  but  a specimen  item  in  that  poverty-stricken 
list,  which  are  worse  than  so  many  dead  weights  upon  so- 
ciety. Nor  is  this  material  loss  the  only  feature  of  the 
case.  There  is  a moral  indigence  that  is  worse  than  even 
this.  To  have  all  that  heart  and  - intellect  can  give,  in 
their  unfettered,  unclouded  state,  is  to  make  society  rich 
in  itself.  It  is  the  mainspring  in  the  machinery  which 
turns  out  wealth ; and  to  be  deprived  of  all  this  by  an 
unnatural  process  is  to  reverse  the  whole  order,  and  give 
poverty  full  license  to  desolate  and  waste  at  its  will. 

The  poverty  of  this  higher  realm  is  worse  than  all 
others,  and  the  blight  upon  society  induced  by  it  is 
tenfold  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  withdrawal  of  that 
which  pecuniary  possessions  involve.  True,  they  are 
more  or  less  blended,  for  the  cultivation  and  develop- 
ment of  the  moral  and  intellectual  resources  which  tend 
to  the  elevation  and  enrichment  of  society  are  due,  in  a 
good  degree,  to  the  pecuniary  forces  of  application.  The 
failure  of  both  creates  one  vast  system  of  pauperism. 

It  is  estimated  that  in  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain,  one  in  twenty  of  the  entire  population  are  pau- 
pers, and  that  intemperance  is  the  direct  or  indirect  cause  • 
of  nine  tenths  of  the  whole.  Our  own  country  furnishes 
facts  of  equal  significance.  The  report  of  the  secretary 
of  state  to  the  legislature  of  New  York  in  1863  showed 
the  whole  number  of  paupers  to  be  two  hundred  and 
sixty-one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-two,  or  one 
in  fifteen  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  state ; and  seven 
eighths  of  these  were  reduced  to  their  beggarly  condition 
through  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drink.  Similar  re- 
ports from  nearly  all  our  states  show  corresponding  cal- 
culations at  the  present  time.  Two  hundred  thousand 
children,  it  is  said,  are  annually  sent  to  the  poorhouse, 


174 


INTEJIPEEAXCE, 


and  two  millions  of  cliildren  in  the  United  States  are  not 
in  attendance  upon  any  school,  chiefly  because  of  the 
wasting  blight  of  this,  system.  Their  parents  have  been 
lodged  with  or  before  them,  and  society  is  compelled  to 
bear  the  burden  of  their  support,  although  it  has  ceased 
to  care  for  them,  only  as  gospel  benevolence  prompts  to 
their  rescue. 

Vice  and  crime,  too,  find  their  instigator  in  the  same 
dreadful  practice.  Social  self-interest  enters  its  protest 
against  the  continuance  of  a system  which  is  at  w.ar  with 
every  true  interest  of  the  state.  It  is  for  the  interest  of 
society  that  sobriety  should  prevail ; that  there  should 
be  no  vice  or  crime,  no  pauperism,  no  lunacy,  or  avoida- 
ble disease  ; that  there  shall  be  domestic  comfort  and 
general  education ; that  the  rates  and  taxes,  and  the 
demands  on  private  charity,  should  be  reduced  to  the 
minimum  consistent  with  the  contingencies  of  life  ; and 
against  the  whole  and  every  part  of  this  enhghtened  in- 
terest the  hquor  traffic  wages  incessant  war.  But  for 
this,  the  so-called  Social  Uvil would  never  multiply 
itself  so  fearfully  as  it  is  now  doing  in  every  part  of  our 
land,  prostituting  all  the  nobility  of  woman’s  nature  to 
the  basest  shrines  on  earth. ' From  whence  cometh  all 
this  ? Associated,  it  may  be,  with  those  who  degrade 
themselves  with  drink,  they  lose  their  moral  sense,  and 
become  insensible  to ' the  charms  of  virtue.  One  who 
has  observed  these  things  says  of  them,  “ The  social 
glass  blunts  tlieir  own  moral  perceptions,  and  throAvs 
them  off  their  guard,  and  thus  they  become  an  eas}”-  prey  to 
the  wiles  of  the  seducer.  . Thousands  of  them  come  from 
their  sweet  country  households,  in  all  their  health  and 
beauty,  blooming  as  the  heather  iipon  their  native  hills, 
or  the  roses  that  adorn  the  walls  of  their  cottage  homes. 
Led  astray  through  the  terrible  agency  of  strong  drink, 
they  flock  to  our  large  toAvns,  and  there_  commence  their 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


175 


'sad  career.  To  drown  the  pangs  of  conscience,  the 
bitterness  of  remorse,  and  the  deep  sense  of  shame,  they 
fly  to  strong  drink,  and  thus  become  confirmed  in  vice. 
In  a very  short  time,  a few  months  in  some,  a few  years 
in  others,  their  bloom  and  beauty  fade,  and  they  become 
either  bloated  and  blaspheming  monsters,  Avith  every . 
womanly  attribute  eradicted,  or  poor,  emaciated,  and  dis- 
• eased  outcasts,  homeless  and  hopeless.”  No  sadder  sight 
can  meet  the  gaze  of  man  or  angel  than  is  seen  in  this 
part  of  the  picture. 

Almost  all  the  murders  that  are  committed  in  the  land 
are  executed  under  the  demoniac  influence  of  rum,  and 
hence  the  efforts  on  the  part  of  so  many  criminals  and 
their  friends  to  rid  themselves  of  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
because  they  knew  not  what  they  were  doing,  as  if  the 
, putting  themselves  in  .that  position  did  not  merit  the 
righteous  condemnation  of  some  stern  law  also.  There 
are  few  who  are  so  reckless  and  hard-hearted  by  nature 
as  to  nerve  themselves  to  the  deliberate  performance  of 
an  act  that  would  knowingly  sever  the  thread  of  life,  and 
send  a soul  out  of  the  world,  while  they  forever  after 
were  to  be  haunted  by  the  conviction  that  they  were  to 
be  confronted  with  a trial  in  the  future  with  such  a wit- 
ness against  them.  No ; take  the  cup  of  alcoholic  mix- 
tures from  the  hands  of  men,  and  the  three  hundred 
murders  that  stain  our  annual  records  would  be  sub- 
stituted by  an  untarnished  blank,  or  left  to  the  recital  of 
something  else  far  less  painful  in  its  character.  The 
cells  of  our  prisons  and  jails  echo  to  the  moans  of  cap- 
tives who  would  never  have  been  found  there,  had  they 
been  in  the  sane  condition  they  might  have  been.  -An 
eminent  judge  of  New  York,  who  lived  to  be  upwards  of 
eighty  years  old,  declared  in  a public  assembly,  that 
“ the  greater  portion  of  the  trials  for  murder,  for  as- 
saults and  batteries,  that  were  brought  into  court  since 


176 


INTEMPEKAifCE, 


his  entrance  on  the  practice  of  law,  originated  in  drunk- 
enness.” Another  one  also  declared,  in  addressing  a 
jury,  “ If  it  were  not  for  this  diinking,  you  and  I would 
have  nothing  to  do.” 

In  a document,  published  by  the  legislature  of  the 
above-named  state,  there  is  seen  the  following  para- 
graph : — 

“ There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  of  all  the  proximate  . 
sources  of  crime,  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  the 
most  prolific  and  the  most  deadly.  Of  other  causes  it 
may  be  said  that  they  slay  their  thousands  ; of  this  it  may 
be  acknowledged  that  it  slays  its  tens  of  thousands.” 

According  to  the  computation  of  those  interested  in 
making  the  observations,  there  are  four  hundred  who 
put  an  end  to  their  own  life  every  year,  by  reason  of 
this  same  thing ; so  many  who  terminate  their  earthly 
career,  and  rush  unbidden  into  the  presence  of  their 
Creator,  with  no  account  to  render  but  that  they  were 
weary  of  the  existence  their  own  course  had  embittered. 
At  best,  intemperance  is  but  the  prime  minister  of 
death.  To  it  is  to  be  attributed  a large  amount  of  the 
yearly  mortality.  The  pestilential  diseases  that  sweep 
across  the  country  at  certain  seasons  are  a thousaird  times 
worse  for  it.  The  sj^stem  that  is  poisoned  by  drink 
cannot  and  does  not  resist  disease.  Of  these  it  may  be 
said,  “ They  do  not  live  out  half  their  days.”  Multitrtdes 
of  these  drop  out  of  the  social  ranks,  and  are  buried  out 
of  sight,  when  otherwise  their  lives  would  be  prolonged, 
and  they  might  be  a blessing  to  the  world.  Our  lunatic 
asylums  are  crowded  with  those  rvho  rave  in  the  dark- 
ness of  everlasting  night,  because  the  burning  fluid  has 
quenched  the  light  of  reason,  and  thrown  them  upon 
society  — helpless  imbeciles.  Were  the  j)unishment  to 
cease  with  the  first  transgressor,  there  might  be-  some 
consolation  in  that ; but  the  stare  of  thousands  of  idiotic 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


177 


cliildren  declares  it  to  be  visited  upon  the  generation  to 
come.  The  avenues  to  the  souls  of  such  have  been 
wantonly  closed,  and  they,  too,  make  their  silent  appeal 
to  benevolent  humanity  for  protection,  instruction,  and 
support. 

Dr.  Story,  of  Chicago,  in  writing  upon  “ alcohol  and 
its  effects,”  estimates  the  annual  cost  of  the  idiocy  of 
drunkenness  — counting  the  loss  that  comes  through  a 
want  of  intelligence  and  industry  — at  forty-two  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  However  much  may  be  done  to  amelio- 
rate the  condition  of  these,  they  must  remain,  in  great 
measure,  an  incubus  upon  society  as  long  as  they  live. 

Then  a home  must  be  provided  for  the  inebriate  him- 
self, and  the  public  must-  be  taxed,  or  Charity  must  bring 
her  offerings  by  thousands,  that  a restraint  might  be  put 
upon  those  who  have  no  power  to  restrain  themselves,, 
and  5re  therefore  dangerous  to  the  well-being  of  society  ; 
and  so  there  is  hardly  an  end  to  the  capital  which  is 
called  into  requisition  because  of  intemperance.  Besides, 
it  damages  every  good  institution  seriously.  The  Sab- 
bath is  not  what  it  would  be  but  for  this.  The  order 
and  quiet  which  should  prevail  upon  this  day  are  often 
broken  in  upon  by  the  noisy  revelries  of  those  who  are 
given  to  the  cup,  and  have  no  regard  for  anything,  human 
or  divine.  No  law  of  earth  or  heaven  intimidates  them. 
Even  isolated  country  places,  where  Nature  invites  to 
reflection,  are  not  exempt  from  the  shoutings  and  rude- 
conduct  of  the  drunken  loafer  ; and,  worse  than  this,  the 
evil  has  crept  into  the  very  bosom  of  the  church,  and 
some  are  sheltered  in  its  embrace  whose  example  does  a 
ruinous  work  for  those  outside,  to  say  nothing  of  the  un- 
happy  influence  upon  them,  and  those  with  whom  they 
are  so  sacredly  connected.  Temperance  is  one  of  the 
cardinal  virtues  of  the  gospel,  and  if  there  is  a place 
upon  earth  where  it  should  shine  with  untarnished  lustre, 
11 


178 


INTEMPEEANC’E, 


where  it  should  he  preserved  in  all  its  Heaven-appointed 
purity,  that  place  is  the  church.  That  should  be  the 
beacon-light  on  the  hill,  to  allure  and  guide  the  steps  of 
every  wanderer  on  the  wilds,  and  within  its  sacred  en- 
closure there  should  be  nothing  to  cast  a shadow.  The 
church  is  plan.ted  for  the  elevation  of  society,  and  what- 
ever is  true  and  ennobling  within  it,  is  due  largely  to  the 
workings  of  this  mighty  instrumentality ; but  it  has  to 
cope  with  a giant  evil. 

An  English  writer,  in  speaking  of  the  religious  ad- 
vancement of  his  people,  in  connection  with  this  subject, 
says,  “We  stud  our  land  with  churches  and  chapels  ; we 
employ  thousands  of  clergymen  to  preach  to  the  people, 
and  hundreds  of  missionaries  to  visit  them  at  their  homes  ; 
thousands  of  Bibles  and  tracts  are  distributed  to  them 
gratuitously  every  year,  and  thousands  of  Sunday  schools 
are  established  for  the  religious  education  of  the  young; 
yet,  notwithstanding  all  these  appliances,  licentiousness 
and  ungodliness  abound  in  our  midst,  and  the  noblest 
aspirations  of  humanity  receive  some  mysterious  check, 
and  instead  of  finding  expression  in  a pure  and  godlike 
life,  they  are  kept  under,  and  vice  and  drunkenness  are 
pursued.  Now,  how  are  we  to  account  for  this  sad  state 
of  things  ? It  is  because  the  ministers  of  morality  and 
religion  are  opposed  by  the  ministers  of  vice  and  immo- 
rality, and  buildings  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  are 
opposed,  and  vastly  outnumbered,  by  temples  set  apart 
to  the  worship  of  Bacchus.” 

There  is  no  fitness  or  inclination  to  appreciate  sacred 
things  when  reason  and  conscience  are  altogether  per- 
verted from  their  legitimate  use  ; when  everything  be- 
fore the  mind  is  only  impure  and  unholy,  and  they  have 
resigned  themselves,  soul  and  body,  to  the  dominion  of 
an  evil  spirit,  to  be  controlled  by  it.  Hence  the  fearful 
amount  of  profanity  in  society.  If  one  has  any  reverence 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


179 


for  the  name  of  the  Most  High,  he  cannot  walk  through 
the  streets  of  a city,  or  scarcely  a lane  in  the  country, 
without  having  his  moral  sensibilities  shocked  beyond 
measure,  because  of  the  oaths  and  imprecations  that 
come  to  his  ears ; and  he  is  constrained  to  say  within 
himself,  Verily  intemperance  is  blighting  our  fair  heri- 
tage. And  who  are  these  ? They  are  not  always  among 
the  low.  A large  proportion  of  these  are  young  men, 
“the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  republic,  the  hope  of  the 
church  and  the  state,  and  many  .of  them  connected  with 
the  best  families  in  the  land.  Many  of  these  have  been 
taken  from  the  bar,  the  medical  profession,  the  pulpit, 
from  mercantile  and  mechanical  walks,  where  they  might 
have  been  eminently  useful;”  and  they  have  turned 
their  backs  upon  all  the  interesting  relations  of  life,  and 
all  the  sacred  connections  of  society,  with  a determined 
bent,  as  it  seems,  to  defeat  the  end  of  their  creation.  To 
see  how  the  wasting  influence  spreads,  we  have  but  to 
observe  the  testimony  of  those  who  have  gone  out  to 
foreign  lands,  professedly  to  carry  light  to  those  who 
have  it  not,  and  see  how  their  work  is  made  tenfold 
harder,  because  men  will  manufacture  and  circulate 
everywhere  the  wretched  poison.  Says  the  English  au- 
thor already  cited,  in  speaking  of  the  counteracting 
influence  that  intemperance  opposes  at  home,  — 

“ The  drink  system  is  no  less  obstructive  to  mission- 
ary operations  abroad.  Missionary  societies  are  the 
glory  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  and  one  of  its  most 
striking  characteristics;  and  we  cannot  also  but  greatly 
admire  those  noble,  self-denying  men,  who,  spurning 
fatigue  and  hardship,  and  fearless  of  danger,  forsake 
home,  country,  and  kindred,  in  order  to  carry  into  re- 
mote and  barbarous  climes  the  blessings  of  civilization 
and  Christianity.  But,  alas  ! here  we  find  cause  for  sad 
reflection  and  tears.  The  ship  which  carries  the  mis- 


180 


IKTEMPERANCB, 


sionary  to  his  field  of  toil  and  danger  also,  alas ! carries 
with  it  an  agent  that  shall  prove  more  deadly,  destruc- 
tive, and  debasing  to  the-  savage  than  even  their  sense- 
less idolatry.  That  agent  is  ' fire-water.  Thus  do  we 
more  than  undo  all  that  the  missionary  accomplishes. 
We  carry  to  the  heathen  the  gospel  in  the  right  hand, 
and  the  whiskey  bottle  in  the  left ; and  to  every  convert 
made  to  the  former,  a thousand  are  made  to  the  latter. 
When  we  mark  how  Europeans  have  contaminated  the 
natives  of  the  Pacific  islands,  of  the  American  wilds, 
and  even  of  India,  with  the  abominable  vices  and  loath- 
some diseases  of  Britain,  we  may  surmise  that,  had  we 
never  touched  their  shores,  but  left  them  entirely  to 
their  ignorance  and  their  idols,  they  would  not  have 
been  in  a worse  condition  than  thej^  are  now.  Indeed, 
how  can  we  expect  them  to  receive  readily  the  gospel  at 
our  hands,  when  they  know  that  day  by  day  we  are  in- 
flicting upon  them  disease  and  misery?  ” 

While  we  fully  believe  that  Christianity  is  a power 
that  is  destined  to  triumph,  and  that  it  is  slowly  but 
surely  working  its  way  among  , the  children  of  supersti- 
tion and  sin,  we  cannot  hide  ourselves  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  what  it  might  be,  were  there  no  untoward  ob- 
stacles ill  the  way.  A missionary  of  Upper  Canada,  at 
Owen  Sound,  says,  — 

“ Indians  — men  that  I love  and  value  as  brethren  --- 
have  told  me,  wfith  low  and  melancholy  voices,  of  the 
devastation  of  this  thing.  A friend,  a few  weeks  ago, 
told  me  of  an  effort,  he  once  made  to  induce  a chief  of  a 
tribe  of  the  Mohawk  nation  to  allow  a friend  of  his,  a 
missionary,  to  come  and  dwell  among  them. 

“ ‘ What  you  preach  ? Preach  Christ  ? ’ 

“ ‘ Yes.’ 

“ ‘ Don’t  want  Christ  — no  Christ ! ’ 

“ My  friend  persevered.  At  length  the  chief  got 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


181  . 


warm,  and,  towering  to  his  full  height,  with  a volcanic 
fire  in  his  eje,  broke  out,  — 

“ ‘ Once  we  were  powerful ; we  were  a great  nation  ; 
our  young  men  were  many ; our  lodges  were  full  of 
children ; our  enemies  feared  us  ; but  Christ  came,  and 
brought  the  fire-water.  Now  we  are  very  poor ; we  are 
weak;  nobody  fears  us;  our  lodges  are  empty;  our 
hunting-grounds  are  deserted ; our  council-fires  are  gone 
out.  We  don’t  want  Christ.  Go  ! ’ ” 

From  India,  Persia,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  it  is  all 
the  same.  They  bear  universal  testimony  to  the  cor- 
rupting power  of  the  unhallowed  stimulant. 

Rev.  Mr.  Ellis,  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  writes,  — 

“ Since  the  introduction  of  Christianity  to  these  isl-' 
ands  by  the  missionaries,  there  is  no  means  which  the 
enemies  of  morals  and  religion  have  employed  more  ex- 
tensively and  perseveringly,  for  the  purpose  of  counter- 
acting the  influence  of  Christian  instruction  and  cor- 
rupting and  degrading  the  people,  than  the  importation 
of  spirituous  liquors ; and  no  means  of  evil  have  been 
employed  with  more  injurious  effects.” 

In  connection  with  this  thought  is  coupled  the  asser- 
tion and  the  appeal,  which  should  not  be  without  its 
effect,  — 

“ Had  the  Christian  church,  in  all  its  different  denom- 
inations, waged  war  from  the  commencement ; had  she, 
at  the  origin  of  the  movement,  made  it  a great  religious 
question  ; had  she  then  put  forth  all  her  power,  and 
used  all  her  appliances,  in  this  direction,  — we  should 
not  now  have  been  weeping  over  the  wholesale  destruc- 
tion and  debasement  of  our  people ; nor  would  that 
church  herself  have  had  to  deplore  her  empty  fanes 
and  desolate  altars,  and  the  increasing  indifference  of 
the  people  to  receive  instruction  at  the  hands  of  her  ap- 
pointed ministers.  But  ‘ it  is  never  too  late  to  mend.’ 


182 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


Let  the  church  of  Christ,  in  all  her  different  depart- 
ments, take  up  this  great  question,  and  identify  herself 
with  it,  nailing  under  the  banner  of  the  cross  the  banner 
of  teetotalism,  and,  with  both  waving  above  her,  she 
will  march  onward  to  certain  victory  over  licentiousness, 
inebriety,  and  ‘ the  legions  of  Sin.’  ” 

No  one  can  look  at  even  this  outline  sketch,  and  not 
see  how  the  social  system  is  suffering  from  the  deadly 
incubus  of  drink.  No  pestilence  that  has  ever  swept 
through  the  country  is  to  be  compared  to  it.  That  is 
but  temporary.  The  winds  of  heaven,  the  heats  of 
summer,  or  the  frosts  of  winter,  may  modify  the  pro- 
curing cause  of  these  things ; but  none  of  them  touch 
those  blighting  agencies  of  Avhich  we  speak.  Its  devas- 
tations are  worse  than  those  of  war.  Its  contests  may 
be  long  and  bloody,  and  we  may  turn  from  the  immense 
sacrifice  of  human  life  with  horror ; but  there  comes  a 
time  when  the  sword  is  sheathed,  and  Peace  proclaims  a 
jubilee.  But  Intemperance  is  always  marshalling  her 
ranks,  and  filling  up  her  armies  — always  slaughtering 
her  thousands,  and  keeping  up  the  din  and  roar  of  her 
battling  legions.  Society  is  bleeding,  groaning,  suffer- 
ing, because  of  it.  To  stay  this  moral  blight  is  the  ques- 
tion of  the  day.  No  grander  movement  could  claim  the 
attention  of  men,  and  earth  and  heaven  wait  the  result. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


183 


CHAPTER  XII. 

National  Loss. 

THEORY  OF  SOUND.  — WHAT  CONSTITUTES  NATIONAL  LIFE.  — “BANK 
FOR  LOSINGS.”  — PRODUCTIVE  LABOR  OF  THE  NATION  LESSENED  BY 
A DRINKING  HABIT.  “MOTIVES  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY.  — THE  GRAIN- 
DESTROYING  CURSE.  — OBSTRUCTS  TRADE  AND  COMMERCE.  ” IMPAIRS 
THE  ARMY  AND  NAVY.  “ CURTAILS  THE  POWER  OF  LITERARY  INSTI- 
TUTIONS. — AN  IMAGINARY  PICTURE. 

There  is  a theory  among  men  that  anything  once 
started  never  ceases  its  action ; that  sound,  once  wak- 
ened, goes  on  and  on  in  endless  vibration,  as  if  it  were 
a chain,  whose  ever-added  links  went  on  to  infinity.  If 
this  he  true  in  the  natural  world,  something  quite  like 
unto  it  is  true  in  the  moral  world.  There  are  circles  of 
influence  that  are  ever  widening,  ever  deepening,  until 
they  reach  the  farther  shore  of  man’s  being  and  nature, 
and  are  lost  in  the  larger  ocean  of  aggregated  existence, 
hut  still  go  on  agitating  and  affecting  things  and  condi- 
tions to  their  remotest  hounds.  The  little  thing  that 
we  saw  nursed  in  the  bosom  of  the  family  has  become 
a threatening  giant  in  our  midst.  We  have  followed  it 
from  the  individual  through  family  and  social  life,  and 
now  we  come  to  the  outer  circle  of  visible  results  as 
the  American  people' — the  nation. 

But  what  is  the  nation  ? 

It  is  " the  union  of  many  homes,  the  people  of  which 
possess  the  same  general  characteristics,  and  have  many 
interests  in  common,  the  whole  being  united  under  one 


184 


INTEMPEBANCB, 


government.  It  has  also  its  laws,  its  great  national  in- 
stitutions, its  literature,  its  commercial  relations  with 
other  lands,  and  a history  of  its  own,  pregnant  with  in- 
struction. A nation,  as  an  individual,  should  have  noble 
purposes  to  accomplish,  and  a destiny  to  fulfil.  This 
includes  the  protection  of  the  people,  the  development 
of  their  resources,  and,  through  the  union  in  council  of 
their  greatest  intellects,  the  blessings  of  education,  and 
of  all  the  loftier  forms  of  civilized  life.  A nation,  in 
fact,  ought  to  be  a blending  and  union  of  all  the  noblest 
traits  that  adorn  our  species.  There  is  an  ideal  of  a 
perfect  nation,  as  well  as  of  a perfect  individual,  and 
the  world  is  struggling  to  attain  it.  The  revolutions 
and  changes  going  on  among  the  nations  are  so  manj- 
steps  in  this  direction,  and  all,  for  the  most  part,  so 
many  expressions  of  those  longings  for  that  perfection 
of  society  of  which,  ever  and  anon,  we  have  inspuing 
glimpses. 

Now,  it  is  the  prevailing  opinion  — an  opinion  based' 
upon  stern,  grim  facts,  educed  by  careful  inquiry,  and 
confirmed  by  extensive  observation — that  intemperance 
is  the  great  curse  of  this  country,  in  comparison  with 
which  all  other  evils  combined  are  as  nothing ; so  that, 
were  this  one  vice  eradicated,  we  should  attain  to  a state 
of  unprecedented  prosperity  and  greatness.  It  is  ac- 
knowledged, even  by  our  statesmen,  that  intemperance 
is  the  incubus  which  oppresses  the  national  life,  and  that 
to  roll  this  away  would  be  to  set  the  nation  free  in  a 
glorious  path  of  progress.” 

What  hope  can  we  have  for  the  vigor  and  prosperity 
of  the  national  life,  if  the  streams  which  feed  it  have 
corrupt  and  deadly  elements  ? Every  individual  is  a 
part  of  this  great  organism,  and  is  responsible,  to  a cer- 
tain extent,  for  what  it  is.  Down  through  these  and 
the  family,  the  social  and  state  relations,  there  is  coming 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


185 


that  which  will  add  to,  or  detract  from,  national  glory 
and  interest.  It  is  in  these  several  departments  that  the 
material  is  furnished  that  is  to  mould  the  character  and 
destiny  of  the  higher  life;  and  in  proportion  to  the 
strength  and  efficiency  manifested  here  will  be  the  de- 
velopment and  application  of  the  national  resources 
which  are  to  contribute  to  its  wealth.  We  have  seen 
how  extensively  the  drinking  system  prevails  in  all  the 
lower  grades  of  life  and  action,  and  it  requires  no  long- 
drawn  conclusion  to  forecast  the  stamp  of  the  higher. 
“ The  child  is  father  to  the  man,”  said  a would-be  phi- 
losopher ; so  the  blending  and  inter-blending  of  these 
public  relations  write  the  character  of  the  former  upon 
the  latter.  The  nation  cannot,  will  not,  be  what  it 
ought,  and  what  it  might  be,  if  all  that  ministers  to  its 
growth  is  withheld,  or  feebly  supported. 

In  this  connection,  we  are  reminded  of  what  Theodore 
Cuyler  calls  the  “ National  Brandy  Bank  for  Losings.” 
It  furnishes  a key  to  the  solution  of  many  problems  that 
are  written  with  reference  to  our  financial  condition.  It 
shoAvs  what  becomes  of  the  money  that  ought  to  go  for 
the  building  up  of  the  nation.  Writing  from  the  place 
‘where  he  resides,  he  says,  — 

“ On  the  chief  thoroughfare  of  this  city,  I often  pass 
a stately  savings  bank,  built  of  freestone,  and  I see 
groups  of  working  people  going  in  to  deposit  their  hard- 
earned  money.  Some  are  mechanics  ; some  are  Irish 
domestics  ; some  are  poor  widows  laying  by  a few  dollars 
for  their  fatherless  children.  But  on  the  same  street  the 
Tempter  has  opened  more  than  one  Bank  for  Losings. 
In  some  parts  of  the  city  there  is  one  nearly  on  every 
corner.  In  almost  every  rural  hamlet,  too,  there  is  a 
similar  institution.  New  York  contains  six  thousand  of 
them.  In  each  of  these  Banks  for  Losings  is  a counter, 
on  which  old  men  and  young,  and  even  some  wretched 


186 


INTEMPEKAiTCE, 


women,  lay  down  their  deposits  in  either  paper  or  coin. 
The  only  interest  that  is  paid  on  the  deposits  is  in  red- 
ness of  eyes,  foulness  of  breath,  and  remorse  of  con- 
science. Every  one  who  makes  a deposit  gains  a loss. 
One  man  goes  into  the  bank  with  a full  pocket,  and 
comes  out  empty.  Another  goes  in  with  a good  charac- 
ter, and  comes  out  with  the  word  drunk  written  on  his 
bloated  face.  I have  even  seen  a mechanic  enter  in  a 
bran  new  coat,  and  coming  away  again  as  if  the  mice  had 
been  nibbling  at  his  elbows.  I have  known  a young 
clerk  to  leave  his  situation  behind  him  in  one  of  these 
Banks  of  Losings.  Several  prosperous  tradesmen  have 
lost  all  their  business  there.  Church  members  have  been 
known  to  reel  out  from  these  seductive  haunts,  tr5’ing 
to  walk  straight,  but  backsliding  at  every  step.  If  the 
cashiers  of  these  institutions  were  honest,  they  would 
post  on  their  doors  some  such  notice  as  this  : — 

“Bank  foe  Losraas. 

“ Open  at  all  hours.  Nothing  taken  in  but  good 
money.  Nothing  paid  out  but  disgrace,  and  disease, 
and  degradation,  and  death.  An  extra  dividend  of 
delirium  tremens  will  be  given  to  old  depositors.  A free 
pass  to  Perdition  given  to  those  who  pay  well  at  the 
counter.  Also,  tickets  to  Greenwood  and  other  ceme- 
teries, entitling  the  holder  to  a Drunkard's  Grave!  All 
the  children  of  depositors  sent,  without  charge,  to  the 
orphan  asylum,  or  the  almshouse.” 

It  is  because  these  banking  institutions  cost  the  na- 
tional government  so  much,  that  we  are  impoverished, 
and  come  short  of  those  rightful  accumulated  gains 
which  should  make  us  richer  and  better.  These  “ divi- 
dends” and  “deposits”  are  all  in  the  wrong  wa}'  — 
misnomers  all.  The  destructive  and  obstructive  influ- 
ences occasioned  thereby  are  almost  beyond  conception. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


187 


A whole  nation  is  sometimes  afflicted  with  famine,  and 
this  dispensation  of  Providence  excites  the  sympathies  of, 
people,  and  stirs  their  benevolence  in  a most  wonderful 
manner ; but  this,  at  its  worst,  can  only  touch  the  body, 
while  this  other  ruins  the  soul,  and  is  therefore  more  to 
be  dreaded  than  any  mere  physical  want,  however  great 
that  may  be.  To  think  that  men  are  voluntarily  at 
Avork  diminishing  the  strength  of  the  national  life,  and 
dwarfing  its  very  existence,  is  a most  serious  considera- 
tion. Let  us  look  at  some  of  the  carefully  prepared 
statistics  that  show  how  this  is  being  done. 

In  the  first  place,  it  diminishes  the  productive  labor 
of  the  nation.  It  is  well  known  that  those  addicted  to 
intemperance  are  not  fitted  for  the  discharge  of  their 
ordinary  duties  in  any  direction.  Large  numbers  of 
them  are  given  to  perpetual  idleness,  never  accomplishing 
anything.  They  are  the  most  abject  kind  of  hangers- 
on — leeches  that  draw  out  the  life-blood  of  the  nation 
continually.  It  is  estimated  that  one  seventh  of  all  the 
people  in  the  whole  republic  are  actually  within  the 
ranks  of  the  intemperate  ; that  there  are  three  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand  men  who  are  directly  engaged  in 
•making  and  vending  the  destructive  beverage,  whose 
industry  is  thrown  into  the  same  channel,  and  who 
furnish  this  paradox  to  the  world  — the  more  industri- 
ous they  are,  the  less  remuneration  does  the  nation  re- 
ceive at  their  hands.  Calling  the  whole  thing  a waste, 
as  we  must,  we  see  how  great  a proportion  of  industry 
is  perverted  from  the  nation’s  use,  and  made  to  subserve 
only  its  detriment.  Add  to  this  the  capital  invested  in 
buildings,  and  the  loss  to  industry  from  drunkards,  crim- 
inals, and  paupers  ; and  the  expense  of  police,  of  courts 
of  justice,  of  prisons  and  poorhouses  ; and  the  wholesale 
and  all  unlicensed  dealers,  numbering  over  tAventy-one 
thousand,  — and  we  have  the  loss  of  the  labor  of  five  hun- 


188 


INTEMPERANCE, 


hundred  thousand  persons,  which,  at  five  hundred  dol- 
lars a year,  as  an  average,  amounts  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars.  This  does  not  include  the  loss 
of  time  of  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  drunk- 
ards. Half  the  time  of  these,  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars 
a day,  amounts  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions 
a year.  Nor  does  this  take  into  account  the  imbecile 
thousands  who  are  supported  at  the  public  expense 
besides. 

The  quantity  of  liquors  made  annually  now,  in  their 
various  departments,  is  estimated  to  be  about  five  hun- 
dred and  forty  million  gallons,  — “enough,”  it  is  said, 
“ to  float  a respectable  navy.”  Many  of  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  this  traffic,  directly  or  indirectly,  become  rich  ; 
and  is  not  the  nation  benefited  through  them  ? How 
is  it  ? Dr.  Story  asserts  that  “ it  takes  about  ten 
years,  on  an  average,  to  make  a fortune  in  the  liquor 
business  ; and  if  they  are  so  destructive  to  human  health 
as  to  destroy,  annually,  one  hundred  thousand  lives,  as 
has  been  demonstrated,  and  since  those  who  fall  victims 
to  drunkenness  die  twenty  years  before  their  time,  it 
follows  that  every  time  one  hundred  thousand  fortunes 
are  made,  twenty  million  years  of  human  life  are  wasted, 
which  is  equal  to  sacrificing  two  hundred  years  of  human 
life  and  industry,  in  order  that  one  man  shall  amass  a 
fortune. 

Only  one  hundred  thousand  men  make  fortunes  out 
of  the  business,  while  thirty-one  million  nine  hundred 
thousand  lose  by  the  traffic,  as  they  have  to  pay  more 
for  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  than  the}’'  would 
if  it  were  suppressed.  Thus  we  see  that  three  hundred 
and  twenty  men  lose,  in  order  that  one  man  may  make. 
Is  that  fair  ? Is  that  economy  ? But  supposing  all  who 
engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic,  directly  and  indirectly,  made 
more  money  than  they  could  in  any  other  way,  to  the  full 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


189 


number  of  one  million  men,  while  all  the  rest  of  the 
people  were  losers,  — is  that  fair  ? Is  it  right  to  tax  thirty- 
one  people  in  order  to  enrich  one  person,  and  that  one  no 
better  than  the  rest  ? Would  it  be  fair  to  tax  four  per- 
sons to  enrich  us  ? What  has  become  of  the  good  old 
democratic  maxim,  ‘ the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest 
number?’  ” 

. The  total  result  he  sums  up  as  follows : “ Suppose 
that  a day’s  labor  is  worth  one  dollar  and  board,  and  that 
there  are  three  hundred  working  days  iu  a year ; then 
the  one  million  people  engaged  in  the  liquor  business 
would  be  worth  three  hundred  million  dollars  a year. 
And  the  two  million  years  of  life  and  health  (and  there- 
fore industry)  that  are  annually  destroyed  would  be 
worth  six  hundred  million  dollars,  or  a total  of  nine 
hundred  million  dollars.  So  that  the  whole  thing  is  at 
variance  with  the  first  principles  of  political  economy. 
It  detracts  so  much  from  the  truest  and  best  interests 
of  the  nation.  A gentleman  of  Massachusetts,  in  speak- 
ing upon  this  point,  says,  ‘ The  capitals,  materials,  and 
labor,  converted  into  ardent  spirit,  becomes  a total  loss 
to  the  worlds  and  the  community  is  taxed  to  make  up  the 
loss.  Though  the  producer  obtains  his  exchange,  the 
manufacturer  his  reward,  and  the  retailer  his  profit,  the 
consumer  loses  the  whole.  Place  the  mind  on  this  point, 
with  all  the  intenseness  of  minute  discovery,  and  show 
me  the  benefit  which  the  consumer  has  derived  from  his 
purchase.  If  some  benefit  is  not  and  cannot  be  derived, 
then  it  must  be  a total  loss,  involving  all  the  capital, 
labor,  and  profit  which  the  purchase  costs.  It  is  loss  to 
the  world,  and  doubly  so  to  the  consumer  ; for  with  this 
loss  his  physical  and  mental  powers  are  impaired  — the 
very  capital  he  had  invested  for  future  use.  Had  the 
devouring  element  consumed  the  purchase,  and  spared  the 
purchaser,  his  loss  would  have  been  comparatively  small. 


190 


INTEMPERANCE, 


When  labor  and  the  resources  of  the  country  are  applied 
in  advancing  the  great  objects  for  which  man  was  cre- 
ated, and  civil  and  political  communities  formed,  and 
mature,  and  elevate,  and  purify  the  mind  of  man,  and 
perfect  all  his  powers,  they  become  beneficial  instruments 
for  the  public  good.  The  more  deeply  this  principle  be- 
comes fixed  in  the  minds  of  men,  the  greater  will  be  the 
demand  upon  these  investments  for  carrying  on  the  great 
purposes  of  improving  the  world,  till  man  arrives  at  the 
highest  elevation  of  which  he  is  susceptible,  in  his  pres- 
ent state  of  existence.  The  argument  for  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  derived  from  the  fact  that 
these  employments  afford  occupation  for  multitudes, 
when  viewed  in  its  bearings  on  political  econom}^,  are 
unsound.  What  one  gains  another  loses.  Even  if  the 
government  derive  a revenue  from  the  manufacture  or 
sale,  it  changes  not  the  ease  ; the  consumer  loses  the 
whole.  The  government  can  never  be  benefited  by  a 
traffic  the  result  of  which  is  a total  loss  to  every  one  of 
the  entire  amount  of  the  article  which  is  the  object  of 
the  traffic.’  ” 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  business  is  to  be  gained 
from  tbe  fact,  that  during  the  last  fiscal  year  the  amount 
of  tax  collected  by  the  United  States  government  on 
liquors  was  over  fifty-two  million  dollars.  Is  the  nation 
so  much  the  richer  ? Poverty  rises  in  the  background,  and 
utters  an  emphatic  No  ! What  a bartering  of  the  more 
precious  things  are  involved ! What  a story  of  mental, 
and  moral,  and  pecuniary  waste  is  back  of  it  all ! 

Think,  too,  how  the  -fruits  and  grains  of  the  earth, 
that  were  meant  for  the  actual  sustenance  and  comfort 
of  man,  are  appropriated.  Englishmen  complain  bitterly 
of  this.  There  was  a time  in  the  history  of  Ireland 
when  the  rage  for  drink  was  such,  “ that  the  inhabitants 
of  that  country  converted  their  grain  into  spirit  to  such 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


191 


an  extent  as  not  to  leave  themselves  sufficient  for  food 
to  sustain  life.  Famine  and  privation  were  the  result ; 
and  to  prevent  a recurrence  of  this  state  of  things,  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  to  check  the  practice  of  free 
distillation.  When  famine  again  desolated  that  ill-fated 
land,  in  1847  and  1848,  and  the  greatest  distress  and  pri- 
vation were  experienced  by  the  poor,  it  was  distinctly 
proved  that  there  was  an  ample  supply  of  grain  to  meet 
the  necessities  of  the  people  ; but,  instead  of  being 
brought  into  the  market  to  be  disposed  of  for  food,  it  was 
locked  up  in  the  granaries  of  breweries  and  distilleries, 
to  be  wantonly  destroyed  in  the  manufacture  of  intoxi- 
cating liquor.  As  a terrible  result,  half  a million  of 
people  perished  from  starvation.”  If  it  be  not  true  in 
its  extreme  renderings,  as  applied  to  our  own  countiy, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  an  almost  incredible  appropriation. 
Without  staggering  the  mind  'with  overwhelming  to- 
talities, take  a single  instance  of  a single  branch,  and 
that  beer.  There  are  three  thousand  breweries  in  the 
United  States,  that  consume  annually  twenty-three  mil- 
lion bushels  of  barley.  Of  course,  this  is  multiplied,  again 
and  again,  in  other  departments,  so  that  a vast  amount  of 
the  productions  of  the  earth  goes  to  swell  the  tide  of  human 
misery,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  accomplish  its  original 
design.  That  which  should  minister  to  the  process  of 
nutrition,  in  a natural  wajq  is  converted  into  that  which 
poisons  and  blasts  ; reducing  where  it  should  strengthen, 
and  tearing  down  where  it  should  build  up.  All  the 
great  industries  of  the  nation  are  related  to  each  other, 
and  are  more  or  less  dependent  on  one  another.  Trade 
and  commerce  are  not  what  they  would  be  were  they 
unobstructed  by  this  gigantic  power.  In  various  ways 
it  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the  multiform  schemes  which 
tend  to  establish  the  laws  that  have  it  for  their  end  to 
place  these  things  upon  a permanent  and  reliable  basis. 


192 


INTEIVIPEEANCE, 


A sober  judgment,  a cool  and  calm  comprehension,  and 
a broad  and  clear  understanding,  are  all  requisite  to 
appreciate  and  carry  out  these  things  successfully.  W e 
have  said  it  too  many  times  to  need  the  repetition  of  the 
truth  here,  that  all  this  is  lost  in  the  condition  of  the 
intemperate  man. 

, There  are,  then,  the  loss  and  disaster  occasioned  by  the 
direct  mismanagement  and  inefficiency  of  those  upon 
whom  devolves  the  care  of  that  upon  which  the  issue  de- 
pends. How  many  valuable  cargoes  have  been  lost,  and 
how  many  vessels  with  their  entire  crews  have  been  buried 
beneath  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  simply  because  intem- 
perance was  at  the  helm  ! The  army  and  navy  have 
been  sadly  demoralized  by  reason  of  it.  It  was  declared 
^ the  greatest  possible  hinderauce  to  the  discipline  of  sol- 
diers, by  all  the  most  thoughtful  and  sober-minded 
generals.  Concerted  plans  of  action,  which  demanded 
prompt  and  decisive  measures,  were  often  overthrown 
and  rendered  useless  for  this  one  reason,  and  when  soci- 
ety looked  for  the , return  of  her  disbanded  soldiery 
its  solicitude  spent  itself  mainly  iipon  this  one  feature. 
“ Drunkenness  is  the  vice  of  the  army,”  it  hath  been 
said.  Away  from  all  the  gentle  and  restraining  influ- 
ences of  home,  and  its  watchful  guardians,  the  tendency 
is  to  rioting  and  excess  ; and  the  natural  indulgence  of 
those  feelings  seems  to  be  in  one  direction  — that  of  drink 
and  its  consequent  vices  ; and  in  this  way,  what  is  pro- 
vided for  the  salvation  of  the  country  goes  to  further  its 
ruin.  Our  educational  institutions  are  the  pride  and 
glory  of  our  land,  and  yet  they  do  not  occupy  that  posi- 
tion, or  exert  so  wide  and  all-controlling  an  influence  as 
they  might,  if  their  standard  of  temperance  was  as  high 
as  it  ought  to  be.  We  look  upon  them  as  strong  and 
mighty  bulwarks,  as  moral  safeguards,  as  so  many  step- 
ping-stones up  the  ladder  of  national  greatness  ; and  so 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  EEMEDY. 


193 


they,  are,  in  a very  good  degree  ; but  who  does  not  know 
that  the  perfection  of  all  these  would  be  greatly  en- 
hanced by  certain  conditions  — conditions  which  involve 
the  uplifting  and  training  of  a mass  of  now  degraded 
minds  ? We  know  of  many  who  have  fallen  out  of  these 
institutions  by  the  way,  and  the.  consequences  of  their 
fall  cannot  be  'measured  except  by  those  ever-widening 
circles  that  we  have  seen  to  touch  a reinote  boundary. 

Bribery  and  corruption  have  not  escaped  the  highest 
political  action  of  states,  and  there  are  many  stories  of 
disgrace  and  defeat  that  are  whispered  about  in  private 
circles,  or,  perhaps,  are  chronicled  amo*ng  the  historical 
literature  of  the  day,  that  show  with  painful  certainty 
the  fact,  that  there  is  no  stream  left  uncontaminated 
by  this  all-pervading  taint. 

But  where  are  the  words  to  follow  up  and  trace  oxit 
all  these  windings  ? We  are  proud  of  our  nation.  The 
heathen  Homans  never  despaired  of  a man  who  was 
proud  of  their  republic.  We  hesitate  not  to  acknowledge 
a pride  in  ours,  and  with  that  emotipn  there  is  mingled- 
a profound  regard  for  its  honor ; but  who  or  what 
threaten  to  assail  it  with  fiercer  haVe  and  more  dis- 
astrous consequences  than  this  same  demon  of  intem- 
perance ?■  Facts  are  appalling,  statistics  overwhelming. 

“ President  Everett  computes  that  the  use  of  alcoholic 
beverages  has  cost  the  United  States,  directly,  in  ten 
years  twelve  hundred  million  dollars  ; has  burned,  of 
utterly  destroyed,  five  million  dollars  more  of  property  ; 
has  destroyed  three  hundred  thousand  lives;  sent 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  to  our  prisons,  and 
one  hundred  thousand  children  to  the  poorhouses ; 
caused  fifteen- hundred  murders,  two  thousand  suicides, 
and  has  bequeathed  to  the  country  one  million  of  orphan 
•children.  . . . It  is  plain  enough  that  this  tremendous 
drain  upon  the  nation’s  increase  and  substance,  and  the 
12 


194 


INTEJIPEIIANCE, 


deepening  degradation,  year  by  year,  of  our  industrial 
strength,  cannot  long  continue  without  fatally  under- 
mining prosperity,  the  public  credit,  and  pohtical  free- 
dom. Measurably,  the  government  is*  already  passing 
under  the  control  of  two  .hundred  thousand  liquor 
dealers’  besotted  customers.  Numbers  of  chief  cities  have 
been,  and  still  are,,  held  in  what  is  little  better  than  a 
state  of  siegg  by  the  rum  power.  State  and  city  elec- 
tions, not  a few,  are  conspiracies  against  the  republic, 
made  possible  by  strong  drink.  Different  departments 
of  national  and^ municipal  authority  have  become  foul 
with  dishonor  through  intemperate  and  debauched  offi- 
cials. Not  unlike  the  ancient  fabled  Laocoon,  our  coun- 
try is  in  the  constricting  coils  of  the  mighty  serpent  of 
the  still,  and  we  must  bruise  its  head,  or  it  will  kill  us 
and  our  children.” 

Imagine,  now,  what,  it  would  be  to  have  all  this  re- 
versed ; to  have  these  coils  loosened,  these  fetters  broken, 
and  all  the  links  sundered  that  bind  us  to  the  huge 
monster ; to  have  all  the  vast  enginery  of  individual, 
social,  political,  aijd  national  being  move  on  with  all  the 
beauty  and  harmony  that  clear-headed  reason  could  de- 
vise ; to  have  all  the  moral  and  intellectual  machinery  of 
the  land  work  ori  without  any  great  disturbing  friction  ; to 
have  all  the  spiritual  efforts  for  the  renovation  of  the  race 
pass  on  to  full  fruition  by  an  unimpeded  power  ; in  short, 
to  have  everything  free  from  the  slimj^  trail  of  the  foe. 
Who  can  picture  what  the  American  nation  would  be 
under  such  an  administration  ? Is  -there  no  remedy  ? 
Are  there  no  glimmerings  of  hope  that  this  will  ever  be  ? 
It  cometh  not  but  by  a mighty  work;  and  whoso  shall 
aid  in  perpetuating  it  will  do  something  in  ushering  in 
the  good  time  that  all  the  good  are  hoping  for. 


ITS  ASPECT  ANT)  ITS  KEMEDY. 


195 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

What  is  the  Remedy? 

NO  “happy  valley”  BHT  in  fancy.  — MORAL  SUASION.  — SIGNING 
THE  PLEDGE.  — SELF-RESPECT  NEVER  REGAINED.  — GODGH’S  CON- 
FESSION.— TOTAL  ABSTINENCE  THE  ONLY  TRUE  REMEDY.  — THE 
COURT  CLERK. — TESTIMONY  OF  AN  ENGLISH  GENTLEMAN. — ANEC- 
DOTE OF  FARRAGUT.  — BIBLE  PRINCIPLES.  — HpMES  FOR  INEBRI- 
ATES.— VIEWS  OF  MR.  POMEROY.  — FROM  THE  PATIENT’S  STAND- 
POINT. — chaplain’s  statement.  — law  interference. 


It  is  pleasant  to  stand  and  gaze  at  a beautiful  picture, 
when  every  figure  and  every  scqne  upon  the  canvas 
make  silent  but  eloquent  appeal  to  the  senses,  in  a 
way  that  ministers  to  the  gratificat’^on  of  the  whole  being. 
It  might  be  pleasing  to  our  exacting  desires  for  happi- 
nSfes,  if  we  .could  always  dwell  amid  \beautiful  sights,  and 
be  regaled  with  delightful  sounds ; but  earth,  in  its  best 
conditions  now,  affords  no  such  “happy  valley”  to  in- 
vite the  children  of  men  to  a calm  repose.  Such  places 
exist  only  in  the  regions  of  fancy,  and  there  is  no  basis 
for  any  such  hopeful  anticipation,  except  as  the  mind 
soars  aloft  into  the  realm  of  the  spiritual,  and  finds  in 
the  everlasting  beyond  a fulfilment  of  the  promise  that 
this  ideal  beauty  and  perfection  are  to  be  realized  at  some 
time  and  somewhere,  in  certain  cases  and  under  certain 
conditions.  This  side  the  immortal  boundary  the  pictures 
of  life  are  darkly  shaded.  In  the  shifting  kaleidoscope 
with  which  we  have  to  do,  they  are  ever  assuming  new 
forms,  and  awakening  new  sensations.  We  would  gladly 
escape  from  the  view  of  many  of  them ; but  as  we  cannot, 


196 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


the  question  is,  How  shall  we  touch  and  retouch,  so  as 
to  make  the  colors  brighter  and  the  forms  fairer? 

The  picture  of  human  life  upon  which  we  have  been 
dwelling  is  sad  and  forbidding  indeed.  To  see  the  cre- 
ations of  the  divine  Artist  disfigured  and  discolored  in 
such  reckless  manner  as  scarcely  to  leave  a trace  of  the 
original  beauty  and  workmanship,  is  a sorry  sight  indeed. 
The  piteous,  fallen . spectacles  of  humanity  that  have 
passed  before  us  in  one  long,  melancholy  procession, 
have  served  to  confirm  the  idea  that  total  depravity  is 
written  upon  the  hearts  and  ways  of  men.  It  almost  in- 
spires a feeling  akin  to  that  which  impelled  the  monks 
and  hermits  of  old  to  retire  into  the  caves  and  deserts, 
that  in  these  mountain  fastnesses  and  retired  places  they 
might  escape  the  contamination  of  the  world,  and  a 
knowledge  of  what  passed  within  it.  This,  however, 
betrays  weakness,  inasmuch  as  it  implies  a want  of  moral 
inertia,  and  an  indisposition  to  grapple  with  the  tempta- 
tions of  life,  and  be  cue  of  the  laboring  host  to  aid  in 
the  reformation  of  those  who  have  gone  astray.  This 
Avork,  in  connection,  Avith  the  subject  before  us,  is  vaet, 
urgent,  and  complicated.  What  can  be  done  to  save 
this  host  of  drinking  men?  What  arguments  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  them  ? 

It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  the  inAmutive  genius 
of  man  can  bring  forward  anything  new,  though  he  be 
urged  by  the  strongest  and  highest  mothms  of  philan- 
thropy. The  hope  lies  in  the  persistent  use  of  the  same 
means  and  the  same  incentives  that  good  people  have 
been  using  for  a long  time.  Some  think  that  moral 
suasion  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  reclaim  the  drunkard ; 
that  if  he  is  reasoned  with  rightly  on  the  duty  of  abstain- 
ing from  his  self-indulgent  habits,  and  Avarned  of  the 
inevitable  consequences  that  Avill  result  therefrom,  it 
wiU  do  as  much  good  as  anything.  But,  at  the  begin- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ftS  REMEDY. 


197 


ning,  does  he  not  know  all  this  just  as  well  as  the  one 
who  tells  him  ? Is  he  not  perfectly  sensible  that  it 
works  all  that  his  friend  tells  him,  and  more  too  ? Said 
the  author  of  the  “Temperance  Tales,”  “ I believe  moral 
suasion  alone,  as  a means  of  ridding  the  world  of  drunk- 
enness, would  prove  about  as  effectual  as  a bulrush  for 
the  stoppage  of  the  Bosphorus.  In  spite  of  the  expecta- 
tions of  the  most  sanguine  suasionists,  unless  opposed  by 
some  more  powerful  barriers,  this  river  of  rum  and  ruin 
will  flow  on  to  eternity. 

“ The  moral  suasionist  of  modern  times,”'  he  continues, 
“ though  not  always  inspired,  presumes  to  accomplish, 
without  the  aid  of  law,  more  than  was  achieved,  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  by  .the  power  of  the  law  and  gospel 
combined.”  -The  most  eloquent  appeals  that  could  pos- 
sibly be  made  to  bear  upon  one  have  been  applied  to 
individuals  without  any  effect  whatever.  If  there  were 
any  power  in  words,  the  pathetic,  soul-melting,  con- 
science-softening entreaties  that  jiave  come  from  loving 
lips  would  have  saved  many  a poor  fellow  from  the  curse 
of  the  drunkard.  No ! it  is  not  in  words  to  save  one 
that  has  yielded  himself  to  the  power  of  this  slavish 
habit.  Some  regard  the  “ Pledge  ” as  a certain  means 
of  reformation,  and  imagine  that  if  you  can  once  induce 
a man  to  put  his  name  upon  paper,  he  is  on  a firm  plat- 
form ever  after.  At  a certain  stage,  and  with  certain 
characters,  there  is  hope  that  they  will  feel  the  force  of 
the  obligation,  and  honor  the  contract  they  have  bound 
themselves  to  fulfil.  While  we  give  the  “ Temperance 
Pledge  ” honorable  mention,  and  yield  to  its  claims  as  a 
reformator}"  power  in  many  instances,  we  yet  have  com- 
paratively small  faith  that  it  will  accomplish  much  for 
the  salvation  of  the  advanced  drinker.  The  utter  de- 
fiance of  all  law  and  order  against  all  their  convictions 
in  these  cases,  the  ignoring  of  all  the  most  sacred  pledges 


198 


INTEMPERANCE, 


of  love  and  affection  in  all  their  other  relations,  show 
what  effect  it  is  likely  to  have.  Such  a one  might  sign 
the  pledge  in  a sober  moment,  when  the  pressure  of  per- 
suasion is,  upon  him  ; but  these  momentary  resolves  are 
swept  away  at  the  first  breath  of  temptation,  or  the  first 
sight  of  a boon  companion.  Does  not  a man  give  the 
most  solemn  pledge  of  his  life,  when  he  leads  the  being 
of  his  choice  to  the  sacred  altar,  and  declares  that  he 
will  cherish  and  protect  her  as  long  as  he  lives,  in  all 
the  days  of  good  and  evil  that  may  come  to  them  ; and 
yet,  what  power  hath  this  pledge  when  the  demon  of 
drink  hath  taken  possession  of  him  ? If  he  will  not  re- 
gard this,  what  reason  that  he  will  honor  that,  when  all 
his  feelings,  affections,  and  sensibilities  are  blunted  and 
deadened,  if  not  destroyed?  There  are  some. happy 
exceptions,  it  is  true.  It  has  been  the  first  stepping- 
stone  to  honor  and  integrity  in  a good  many  instances, 
and  therefore  we  gladl)^  place  it  among  those  agencies 
that  are  to  help  on  th,?  blessed  reform. 

A few  years  ago,  when  the.  temperance  refdrmation 
assumed  a popular  form,,  and  so  many  reformed  drunkards 
took  the  stand  to  plead  the  cause,  the  pledge  had  a promi- 
nent place.  When  John  Hawkins  was  making  his  first 
speech,  and  telling  the  story  of  his  degradation  and  resto- 
ration, a man  from  the  gallery  cried  out  in  a tremulous 
voice,  “ Can  I be  saved,  too  ? ” ‘ YeH  ” said  the  speaker, 

“ come  down  and  sign  the  pledge  ; ’’  and  amid  the  plau- 
dits of  the  assembled  multitude,  he  went  and  enrolled 
his  name  with  those  who  promised  to  break  away  from 
an  enticing  and  ruinous  habit.  Others,  stimulated  by 
example,  followed  on,  and  many,  it  is  believed,  were  true 
to  their  engagement ; but  the  best  of  these  reformed 
ones  never  feel  safe.  Gough  knew  all  the  different 
phases  of  drunkenness  and  reformation ; but  hear  what 
he  said  years  after  he  had  signed  the  pledge.  It  was 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


199 


a declaration  during^  one  of  his  lectures.  “ I am  now 
fifty-three  years  old ; and  as  I look  back  upon  the  past, 
as.  I mingle  with  the  wise,*  the  good,  the  pure,  and  the 
true,  as  I shake  hands  with  such  men  as  have  grasped 
my  hands  to-night,  I feel  intense  disgust  and  abhorrence 
of  the  days  which  that  man  spoke  of  as  being  happy.  I 
would  give  my  right  hand  to-night  if  I could  forget 
them ; if  I could  tear  out  from  my  memory  the  remem- 
brance of  the  dark,  black,  damning  days  of  degradation. 
But  some  say,  ‘You  have  recovered.’  No ! we  can  never 
recover  from  the  effects  of  such  a life.  . What  a man 
sows,  that  shall  he  reap.  Little  things  show  whether 
such  men  recover  or  not.  One  little  thing  I may  say, 
personally,  if  you  please.  I have  tried  to  bring  up  some 
.children,  riot  my  own  — and  two  of  them  are  on  the 
platform  to-night.  One  of  the  hinderances  to  my  speech 
is,  that  they  are  there,  and  hear  what  I say.  Last-  sum- 
mer I heard  one  of  those  girls  say  to  my  wife,  ‘ Aunt 
Mary,  is  it  not  strange  that  uncle  John  should  have  got 
drunk  ? ’ I.  felt  ashamed  of  my^lf ; and  is  that  not 
some  penalty  for  a mail  to  pay  all  'the  days  of  his  life? 
I do  feel  ashamed  ; I feel  as  jf  I coiud  hide  myself  in  the 
earth ; I felt  to-night,  when  I took  hold  of  hands  that 
had  never  been  stained  with  the  intoxicating  cup,  as  if 
I could  lie  down  and  let  them  set  their  feet  upon  me. 
There  is  not  a man  so  well  known  to  the  public  so 
utterly  lonesome  and  isolated  as  I am.  Did  3'ou  ever 
hear  of  my  ever  being  at  a party?  Never.  I have  not 
attended  two  for  twenty-five  years.  Did  you  ever  hear 
of  my  ever  calling  upon  great  men?  No!  and  when  L 
invite  them,  I do  it  with  so  much  timidity  that  I do  not 
much  expect  them  to  accept  the  invitation.  I have 
asked  some  of  the  gentlemen  here  to-night  to  come  and 
see  me,  but  I do  not  believe  they  ever  will.  If  a man 
invites  me  to  a dinner  party,  I find  an  excuse.  I never 


200 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


go  to  see  people,  because  I stained  the  pages  of  my  life’s 
book.  Though  I may  turn  over  ten  thousand  stainless 
pages,  the  stains  on  the  other  pages  will  remain.” 

So  true  is  it  that  the  sad  effects  of  intemperance  can 
never  be  fully  wiped  out.  The  most  perfect  and  leliable 
cures  have  yet  an  element  of  uncertainty  about  them. 
We  have  become  more  and  more  convinced,  with  the 
turning  of  every  leaf  in  this  tragic  history,  that  there  is 
no  safety,  and  no  remedy,  but  in  one  thing,  and  that  is 
total  abstinence.  If  young  men  would  take  this  as  their 
motto,  when  they  go  out  into  the  world,  write  it  upon 
every  finger  of  their  hands,  and  live  up  to  it  in  all  their 
ways,  it  would  do  more  to  ' inaugurate  a glorious  refor- 
mation than  all  the  brilliant  theories  of  the  moralizer, 
backed  up  by  the  most  remarkable  gifts  of  persuasion. 
If  they  would  never  begin  to  taste,  and  sip,  and  dally 
with  the  accursed  thing,  they  would  be  all  right,  and 
never  need  to  be  hedged  about  with  the  thousand  de- 
vices of  temperance  nurseries,  that  seek  to  keep  them 
within  proper  bounds^.  We  have  yet  to  confront  the 
manufacturer  on  his  own  ground ; but  while  the  thing 
exists,  and  is  likely  to,  while  it  is  made  and  sold  every- 
where, and  so  many  are  tempted  by  it,  we  shall  have  to 
dwell  upon  ways  and  means  to  check  and  avoid  its  in- 
fluence as  far  as  possible.  Whatever  other  methods  may 
be  presented,  however  varied  may  be  the  advantages 
of  any  other  system,  there  is  but  one  rule  of  universal 
application  — but  one  thing  that  meets  the  necessities 
of  every  condition,  from  the  moderate  tippler  to  the 
confirmed  inebriate ; and  that  is  the  last  consideration 
we  have  named — the  entire  abstinence  from  everything 
that  intoxicates.  There  is  nothing  but  the  entne  re- 
moval of  it  from  all  sight  and  smell  that  will  answer,  in 
a majority  of  cases.  We  have  seen  how  the  habit  grows 
upon  one,  how  the  thirst  becomes  so  insatiable  in  its 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


201 


cravings  as  ’to  brook  no  control,  and  in  wbat  way  it 
bears  the  victim  downward  as  by  a swift  and  irresistible 
current.  We  believe  there  are  thousands  who  are  ad- 
dicted to  the  use  of  the  cup,  who  would  lift  up  their  heads 
and  rejoice  could  they  know  that  another  drop  of  the 
deadly  stimulant  would  never  again  pass  before  them; 
and  yet  they  have  not  the  moral  courage  to  resist  it. 

At  one  time,  the  prohibitory  law  was  up  for  consider- 
ation in  a certain  court.  The  clerk  was  a man  given  to 
drinking,  and  all  the  time  through  the  debate  he  sat  in 
fearful  suspense  lest  the  restraints  which  he  deemed 
necessary  would  not  be  imposed.  On  the  morning  of  the 
decision  he  entreated  one  of  the  judges  to  spare  the  law. 
Said  he,  “ Sir,  you  know  I am  addicted  to  drinking ; but 
you  do  not  know  — no  living  person  can  know  — how 
I have  struggled  to  break  off  this  habit.  Sometimes  I 
have  succeeded,  and  then  these  accursed  liquor  bars, 
like  so  many  man-traps,  have  effected  my  fall.  For  this 
reason  I have  labored  for  the  prohibitory  law.  Your 
decision  is,  with  ms,  a matter  of  liSe  and  death.”  When 
the  decision  was  handed  him  to  record,  he  felt  it  to  be 
like  signing  his  own  death-warrant.  Hope  failed  him, 
despair  seized  him  ; amid  the  horrors  of  delirium  tremens, 
when  four  men  could  -not  hold  him,  he  sank  away ; and 
in  less  than  four  days  was  no  more.  Is  there  anything  but 
abstinence  that  can  save  such  as  these?  and  how  shall 
that  be  realized,  unless  the  thing  is  put  altogether  be- 
yond their  reach,  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  their  lay- 
ing hands  upon  it  ? It  is  urged  that  this  is  an  extreme 
measure  — and  so  it  may  be;  but  extreme  cases  demand 
extreme  measures,  and  •nothing  short  will  meet  the  emer- 
gency. Ho  half-way  work  will  do  here.  Is  there  hope 
of  a drinking  man,  when  he  says  he  will  leave  off  grad- 
ually—that  he  will  take  only  a little  as  he  needs  it? 
Do  not  his  “ needs  ” extravagantly  multiply  in  his  own 


202 


INTEMPERANCE, 


estiination,  until  it  takes  an  almost  incredible  supply  to 
meet  them  ? 

There  are  a great  many  weak  natures  that  are  alto- 
gether incapable  of  bringing  themselves  up  to  any  very 
strong  powers  of  resistance ; neither  can  they  be  brought 
so  as  to  be  kept  up  by  any  external  influence,  while  with- 
in range  of  the  peculiar  temptation.  They  are  good- 
hearted  and  generous,  and  in  all  respects  would  be  a 
desirable  acquisition  to  society  but  for  this  one  thing. 
There  is  hope  that  such  might  be  restored  to  their  posi- 
tion and  their  privilege,  if  once  abstinence  was  placed 
upon  the  throne,  and  they  were  made  to  feel  its  power. 
There  are  some  among  good  people  who  seem  to  think 
this  condition  too  rigid;  that  it  costs  too. much;  and  that, 
perhaps,  after  all,  a man  is  not  any  better  off  for  so 
much  severity.  Not  long  since  an  English  gentleman  — 
member  of  Parliament  — testified,  before  one  hundred 
and  fifty  medical  gentlemen  at  a public  breakfast,  that 
there  was  nothing  like  this  total  abstinence  to  promote 
his  health  and  efiicieijcy.  “ I myself,”  he  says,  “ a long 
time  ago,  for  the  ?ake  of  influencing  some  men,  who, 
I saw,  were  rapidly  going  down  hill  to  destruction,  de- 
termined to  put  myself  in  the  position  to  give  them  un- 
suspected advice.  I said,  I will  abstain  for  a month,  and 
see  how  it  answers  with  me  ; and  finding  it  did  -answer,  I 
went  on  for  another  month,  and  then  for  another.  At 
the  expiration  of  fifteen  j-ears  subsequently,  I thought  it 
my  duty  to  testify  that,  during  the  whole  of  that  period 
I had  enjoyed  the  best  health,  good  spirits,  and  a great 
capacity  for  work  ; and  now,  seventeen  years  later,  and 
after  thirty-two  years  of  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
drink,  I confirm  the  same  to  you  all.  I testify  before  all 
this  company,  that  scarcely  any  man  can  have  had  more 
uniform  vigorous  health  than  I have  had ; and  for  which 
I am  deeply  thankful,  during  the  whole  of  the  period  I 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


203 


have  named ; and  I have  been  a tolerably  hard  worker 
too  ; and  I verily  believe  that  I have  been  able  to  do  more 
than  I should  have  been  able  to  do,  if  I had  hot  been  a 
total  abstainer.”  The  folly  of  those  who  believe  it  a 
special  preparation  for  a special  work,  is  a thousand 
times  demonstrated  by  actual  trial. 

Secretarj'-  Seward  used  to  tell  the  following  story : — 

“Everybody  admired  Farragut’s  heroism  in  clinging 
to  the  topmast  to  direct  a battle  ; but.  there  was  another 
particular  of  that  contest  that  no  less  forcibly  illustrates 
his  heroic  character.  ‘ Admiral,’  said  one  of  his  officers, 
the  night  before  the  battle,  ‘ won’t  you  consent  to  give 
Jack  a glass  of  grog  in  the  morning  ; not  enough  to  make 
him  drunk,  but  enough  to  make  him  fight  cheerfully  ? ’ 
‘Well,’  replied  the  admiral,  ‘I  have. been  to  sea  con- 
siderably, and  have  seen  a battle  or  two,  but  I never 
found' that  I wanted  rum  to  enable  me  to  do  my  duty. 
I will  order  two  cups  of  coffee  to  each  man  at  two 
o’clock,  and  at  eight  o’clock  I will  pipe  all  hands  to 
breakfast  in  Mobile  Bay.’  -And  he  did  give  Jack  the  cof- 
fee ; and  then  he  went  up  to  the  m^t-head  and  did  it.” 

Some  argue  against  total  abstinence  with  the  show  of 
being  wonderfully  devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  country, 
and  so  declare  that  all 'this  fanaticism  of  abstinence,  if 
carried  out,  would  impoverish  the  nation,  by  cutting  off 
an  immense  revenue. 

We  fancy  this  would  be  more  than  met  by  the  wealth 
that  would  pour  in  from  a thousand  other  channels,  as*a 
consequence  of  the  more  intelligent  and  efficient  system 
of  labor  that  would  prevail.  Brain  is  by  far  the  best 
propelling  force  of  the  country.  It  matters  not  what 
its  hidden  resources  may  be,  if  there  be  no  discriminating 
power  to  develop  and  apply,  and  any  one  who  has  ob- 
served the  deterioration  of  mental  and  physical  energy 
under  alcoholic  sway  knows  fuU  well  that  there  is  a 


204 


INTEMPERANCE, 


vast  expenditure  in  the  wrong  direction ; that  there  is 
an  almost  incalculable  waste  of  the  material  that  would 
otherwise  enrich.  We  would  that  it  might  he  put  to  the 
test ; that  for  a term  of  years  the  whole  range  of  intox- 
icating drinks  might  he  swept  from  the  land,  and  all  the 
department  of  industry  be  filled  with  men  who  could  act 
out  their  own  natural  impulses  and  energies ; and  we 
would  not  fear  for  the  results  from  this  stand-point. 

Torn  from  every  other  support,  there  are  those  who 
will  flee  to  the  Bible,  and  interpret  it  so  as  to  favor  their 
prejudices.  To  them  it  is  of  wonderful  significance  that 
Timothy  was  advised  to  take  a “ little  wine.’’'’  They  jump 
to  the  conclusion  at  once  that  Paul  was  not  in  favor  of 
the  '■'■total;”  and  so  they  take  license  for  indefinite  in- 
dulgence, and  feel  very  comfortable  under  the  conviction 
that  they  have  a mighty  apostle  to  uphold  them.  Now, 
it  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  the  unbiassed 
mind  to  discover  that  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures  are  all  in  harmony  with  this  matter  of 
abstinence. 

“ In  regard  to  the  assumption,”  says  one,  “ that  what- 
ever is  not  expressly  enjoined  in  the  Bible  is  opposed  to 
its  spirit  and  aims,  we  must  remember  that  it  is  not  a 
book  of  details.  It  does  not  lay  down  special  precepts 
to  guide  us  in  all  those  multitudinous  circumstances 
under  which  mankind  may  be  placed.  Win-,  the  world 
itself  would  not  hold  such  a book,  and  to  master  it  we 
should  have  to  attain  to  the  years  of  Methuselah. 

“ The  Bible,  in  the  main,  is  a book  of  broad  and  grand 
principles,,  easily  applied  to  the  circumstances  of  life. 
These  pjrinciples  are  but  few  in  niimber,  easy  to  under- 
stand and  remember.  And  what  the  sincere  Christian 
should  inquire  is  this : Is  the  temperance  enterprise  in 
harmony  with  these  principles,  or  opposed  to  them  ? If 
the  former,  our  duty  is  plain  and  unmistakable.  If  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EBMEDY. 


205 


latter,  our  duty  is  equally  plain  and  unmistakable. 
When  the  Parliament  of  Tahiti  consulted  the^queen  re- 
specting the  admission  of  intoxicating  drinks,  she  said, 
‘Let  the  principles  contained  in  the  New  Testament  be 
the  foundation  of  all  your  proceedings ; ’ and  immedi- 
ately they  enacted  a law  ^against  trading  with  any  vessel 
that  brought  ardent  spirits.  It  was  not  so  much  any 
isolated  text,  as  the  principles  of  the  book, generally,  that 
guided  their  determination.  They  saw  that  love  to  God 
and  man  is  the  grand  principle  of  the  book,  and  that 
this  love  enjoins  us  to  do  nothing  which  would  prove  the 
■means,  du’ectly  or  indirectly,  of  making  a brother  stum- 
ble, offend,  or  become  weak,  or  fall  into  sin.’” 

Well  would  it  be  if  this  Christian  nation  would  emu-  . 
late  the  example  of  these  sea-girt  islanders.  Whichever 
way  we  turn,  we  cannot  hide  ourselves  from  the  con- 
viction that  total  abstinence  is  the  only  safety  for  man 
at  the  beginning,  and  the  only  cure  for  the  drunkard. 
The  public  have  recognized  this  lati’er  fact  in  providing 
Homes  for  Inebriates,  the  special  object . of  which  is 
to  remove  them  from  all  possibility  of  obtaining  their 
wonted  drink.  They  are  regarded  and  treated  as  disr 
eased  persons,  end  probably  there  is  no  disease  on  earth 
that  is  so  difficult  to  effect  a radical  cure  as  this.  These 
institutions  start  with  the  position  that  alcohol  is  a 
poison ; that  systems  charged  with  it  are  desperately 
poisoned,  and  in  order  to  be  saved,  must  be  subjected  to 
a thoroughly  renovating  process  ; and  this  is  slow  or  more 
rapid  according  to  the  time  the  destructive  elements 
have  been  at  work.  They  also  regard  the  inebriate  as 
under  the  conditions  of  a certain  kind  of  insanity,  and 
therefore  one  part  of  their  treatment  lies  in  the  diversion 
of  mind  from  the  one  delusion ; and  so  the  same  enter- 
tainments and  amusements  are  provided  in  the  one  case  • 
as  the  other.  There  are  several  institutions  of  this  char- 


206  INTEMPEEANCE, 

acter  in  various  parts  of  the  country ; one  at  Chicago, 
111.,  one  in  Maryland,  the  “ Washingtonian  Home  ” of 
Boston,  MasSi,  and  one  in  Kings  County,  N.  Y. ; but 
as  the  one  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  is  the  oldest,  we  con- 
fine ourselves  to  that,  as  a specimen  of  the  characteristic 
working  of  the  whole.  It  is  said  of  him  who  founded 
it,  “ If  he  had  possessed  scientific  ability  and  rectitude 
of  purpose  equ-al  to  his  energy  and  persistence,  he  would 
have  been  acknowledged  one  of  the  great  benefactors  of 
his  race,  to  be  ranked  with  Howard,  and  Wilberforce, 
and  Clarkson.” 

In  order  to  have  a clearer  comprehension  of  the  object, 
system,  and  results  of  these  peculiar  asylums,  we  quote 
from  a pamphlet  published  under  the  direction  of  the 
superintendent  at  this  place,  by  J.  N.  Pomeroy,  Esq. 

“ This  asylum  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 
Others  have  since  been  established  ; but  still  there  is  in 
the  public  mind  a complete  ignorance  in  respect  to  its 
real  objects  and  methods,  a most  profound  misunder- 
standing as  to  what^  it  professes  to  do,  what  it  can  do, 
and  how  it  does  its  work.  Doubtless  nearly  every  pa- 
tient who  comes  here  shares  in  this  ignorance.  I have 
talked  with  several  who  pronounced  ther  whole  thing  a 
failure  and  a delusion,  because  it  does  not  accomplish 
what  it  never  professed  to  perform,  and  what  it  would  be 
impossible  to  perform  without  the  help  of  Omnipotence. 
Many  persons  expect  that  the  curative  process  is  to 
change  human  nature  ; is  to  eradicate  appetites  and  pas- 
sions which  were  implanted  in  man  by  the  Creator,  and 
form  a part  of  his -very  being  ; or  to  so  transform  the 
body  that  it  may  in  future  escape  the  dire  effects  of  in- 
dulgence in  alcoholic  stimulants.  Beyond  a question, 
most  persons  without  the  institution,  and  most  patients 
at  their  arrival,  have  a vague  and  confused  notion,  either 
that  all  appetite  and  desire  for  stimulants  wiU  be  utterly 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  207 

destroyed,  or  that  their  physical  systems  will,  in  some 
manner,  be  so  fortified  that  the  moderate  use  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  may  thereafter  be  indulged  in  with  impu- 
nity ; and  these  patients  and  their  friends  are  doubtless 
often  disappointed  or  disgusted  because  such  wonderful 
results  are  not  accomplished.  At  the  -very  opposite  pole 
of  opinion,  there  is  another  class  of  individuals  who  are 
equally  wrong,  both  in  their  premises  and  their  conclu- 
sions. Very  many  persons,' generally  those  who  are  pro- 
foundly ignorant  of  mental  and  physiological  phenom- 
ena, deny  that  the  word  cure  is  at  all  appropriate  to  the 
inebriate.  They,  assert  that,  as  the  alcoholic  habit  is 
purely  voluntary,  it  must  be  abandoned  solely  by  an  act 
of  the  Avill,  and  that  it  may  always  be  thus  overcome, 
no  matter  how  closely  it  may  have  bound  its  willing 
victim.. 

“ The  temperance  movement  fails  to  accomplish  the 
reclamation  of  very  few  confirmed  drunkards,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  it  ignores  all  those  radical  changes, 
physical  and'  mental,  wrought  by  the  alcoholic  habit, 
and  calls  upon  the  drunkard,  whose  body  is  disorganized 
and  whose  will  is  weakened  and  almost  destroyed,  to 
achieve  unassisted  that  which  needs  all  the  helps  of  the 
best  medical  science,  and  of  the  most  complete  sanitary 
discipline.  As  well  might  societies  be  formed  for  the 
suppression  of  insanity,  which  should  content  themselves 
with  urging  upon  the  insane  to  disregard  and  throw  off 
their  morbid  delusions  by  the  mere  unaided  efforts  of 
their  own  will. 

“ What  is’meant  by  an  inebriate,  and  what  hy  his  cure  ? 
Without  now  stopping  to  inquire  into  the  effects  of  al- 
cohol in  all  possible  cases,  — without  now  troubling  our- 
selves with  the  vexed  question  whether  it  is  at  all  times, 
under  all  circumstances,  and  with  all  individuals,  injuri- 
O'ls,  — it  is  enough  to  say  that  there  are  persons  whose 


208 


INTEMPERANCE, 


original  physical  constitution  and  temperament  are  such 
that  alcohol,  once  used,  becomes  to  them  a necessity ; 
the  brain  and  nerves,  by  virtue  of  some  primary  ten- 
dency, Avelcome  the  intruding  force,  and  require  the 
repeated  stimulant,  until  at  last  they  demand  it  with  a 
vehemence  which  admits  of  no  denial.  The  alcoholic 
habit  is  thus  fixed,  and  the  whole  system  must  be  wound 
up  each  day  by  increased  doses  of  the  poison,  before 
either  the  mind  or  the  body  can  perform  their  usual 
functions.  Such  persons  are  inebriates,  and’  are  none 
the  less  so  because  the  'use  of  alcohol  may  neA^er  be 
pushed  by  them  so  far  as  to  produce  complete  intoxi- 
cation. 

“ If  a person  once  discovers  that  alcohol,  at  stated  and 
regular  times,  has  become  a necessity  to  him,  — if  the 
leaving  off  from  the  accustomed  amount,  although  that 
may  be  small,  requires  a struggle,  — he  may  be  abso- 
lutely certain  that  the  primary  constitutional  tendency 
towards  complete  inebriety  or  alcoholism  exists  in  liim, 
and  that  he  is  in  the  most  imminent  danger.  If  the 
habit  has  once  been  thus. formed,  — if  the  stimulant  has 
thus  become  a regular  necessity,  no  matter  how  small 
may  be  the  amount  used,  — it  is  as  certain  as  death  that 
that  amount  will  be,  and  must  be,  steadily  increased, 
until  at  last  it  obtains  a complete  mastery  OA^er  body, 
mind,  and  soul. 

“ I know  that  we  have  all  heard  accounts  of  some  ex-  ’ 
traordinary  persons,  some  aged  uncles  or  grandfathers, 
or  other  veterans,  Avho,  during  a long  life,  took  their 
stated  number  of  glasses  each  day,  never  increasing  or 
diminishing  the  amount  consumed,  and  were  none  the 
worse.  Such  stories  may  be  true,  but  they  are  opposed 
to  all  the  deductions  of  medical  science  ; they  are  op- 
posed to  an  almost  universal  experience ; in  fact,  they 
are  to  be  regarded  only  as  those  few  and  solitary  excep- 


ITS  ASPECT  ANT)  ITS  REMEDY. 


209 


tions  which  bring  into  a stronger  and.  clearer  relief  the 
terrible  uniformity  of  the  rule.  I repeat,  if  the  alco- 
holic habit  is  once  fixed  upon  a man,  the  quantity  of  the 
stimulant  required  by  him  will  steadily, -and  often  with 
amazing  rapidity,  increase.  Those  who  have  formed 
this  habit  — no  matter  in  what  stage  of  its  development 
they  may  be  — are  inebriates.  There  are  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  who  accurately  answer  to  this  descrip- 
tion.- They  are  not  secluded  from  society;  they  are 
found  in  every  profession  and  business  ; they  engage  in 
all  the  activities  of  our  national  life.  The  end  of  all  is 
not  the  same.  Many  fall  mortal  victims  of  the  poison, 
and  die  destroj^ed  by  alcohol  as  directly  and  truly  as  a 
soldier  does  by  the  bullet.  Others  linger  through  a 
longer  life,  with  health  impaired,  with  families  shamed, 
with  friends  alienated,  with  powers  weakened,  with  op- 
portunities lost,  until  the  end  comes,  and  their  career  is 
acknowledged  by  all  to  have  been  a failure. 

“Now,  what  is  the  cure  ? It  is  certainly  not  the  total 
destruction  of  all  appetite  for  stimulants,  nor  the  eradica- 
tion of  the  original  constitutional  tendency  which  I have 
described,  for  either  of  these  would  be  simply  impossible 
to  all  except  the  Creator  himself.  Nor  is  it  any  such 
physical  change  as  will  enable  a person  to  resist  the 
morbid  effects  of  the  poison,  and  will  permit  the  use  of 
alcohol  in  future  with  impunity  ; for  such  a re-organiza- 
tion of  the  body  is  clearly  beyond  the  reach  of  medical 
science.  There  is  no  Medea’s  caldron  from  which  the 
inebriate  may  emerge,  and  enjoy  a perpetual  youth  of 
self-gratification.  The  cure  consists  solely  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  habit  by  absolute  cessation,  and  in  pro- 
ducing once  more  such  a condition  of  body  and  mind  in 
the  patient  that  complete  abstinence  from  the  stimulant 
may  become  possible  to  him  in  the  future.  The  very 
fact  that  the*  habit  has  once  been  formed  shows  that  ab- 
13 


210 


INTEMPEEANCB, 


stinence  is  necessary ; for  it  demonstrates  the  existence 
in  the  person  of  that  original  constitutional  tendencji 
which  no  appliances  can  remove,  and  which,  yielded  to, 
becomes  as  fatal  as  the  plague  or  the  leprosy.  We  may 
concede  that  others  can  drink  from  time  to  time  without 
danger  of  excess,  and  with  no  perceptible  injury,  be- 
cause, for  some  reason  or  other,  their  systems,  their 
brains  and  nerves,  do  not  fully  respond  to  the  effects  of 
the  poison.  But  the  man  in  whom  the  fatal  alcoholic 
tendency  exists,  and  who  has  once  yielded  to  it,  and  has 
become  the  slave  of  its  terrible  tyranny,' cannot  expect 
to  be  made  any  stronger  to  resist  its  destructive  effects 
than  he  was  at  the  very  outset.  If  he  can  be  placed 
back  again  into  his  primary  condition,  into  that  state  of 
body  and  mind  which  existed  before  the  first  use  of  al- 
cohol, he  must  be  content ; all  the  cure  possible  for  him 
has  been  wrought.” 

After  thus  speaking  of  the  object  of  the  Asylum  and 
its  theory  of  cure,  he  says,  — 

“ It  must  be  .confessed  at  once  that  the  results  do 
not  come  fully  up  to  the  lofty  conception.  We  find,  in 
fact,  that,  of  all  the  persons  who  resort  thither,  some 
are  not  benefited  in  the  least ; some  feceive  a partial  or 
temporary  good ; while  others  still  are  permanently 
cured.  How  large  a percentage  of  the  whole  number 
the  latter  class  forms,  it  is  of  course  impossible  for  me 
to  say;  but  it  is  certainly  very  considerable  — at  least,' 
fifty  per  cent.” 

There  are  three  classes  who  are  found  within  these 
institutions  — those  who  have  keenly  felt  the  sad  effects 
of  the  wretched  habit,  and  are  really  and  earnestly  de- 
sirous of  being,  in  some  way,  freed  from  its  terrible 
power ; then  there  are  those  who  enter  these  folds  to  be 
exempt  from  the  immediate  physical  copsequences  of 
excessive  indulgence ; and,  lastl}"-,  those  who  have  been 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


211 


placed  there  by  their  friends,  and  who  have  not  sufficient 
desire  to  reform  in  themselves  to  make  them  willing  to 
yield  to  the  sanitary  restraints.  - For  this  latter  class,  it 
■is  affirmed,  but  little  can  be  done.  In  order  to  illustrate 
the  power  of  the  social  element  in  the  matter,  we  give 
an  extract  frona  the  remarks  of  one  who  had  himself 
graduated  from  this  same  institution : — 

“ Since  intemperance  is  thus  clearly  a social  sin,  it 
seems  to  me  that  its  cure  is  best  sought  by  social  means. 
It  would  be  found  impossible,  I am  convinced,  to  take 
each  inebriate  separately,  and  work  his  cure.  The  at- 
tempt, if  made,  would  prove  a failure.  The  patient 
would  only  brood  over  his  sin  and  sufferings,  grow  mor- 
bidly conscious  that  the  whole  world  despised  him,  fret 
and  despond  under  restraint,  and  return  to  his  evil  hab- 
its, in  order  to  seek  relief  from  oppressive  thoughts,  as 
soon  as  the  period  of  his  probation  or  imprisonment  was 
over.  For  this  reason,  the  old  methods  of  sending  a 
young  man  on  a voyage  to  China,  of  rusticating  him  in 
a retired  farm-house,  and  other  varied  contrivances  for 
freeing  him  from  temptation  by  shutting  him  up  with 
only  his  thoughts  for  companions,  have  prov.ed  to  be 
failures.  These  plans  all  lacked  the  social  element,  and 
could  not  be  successful  without  it.  Man  is  so  consti- 
tuted that  he  needs  companionship  in  all  that  he  does. 
It  is  one  of  the  oldest  axioms  of  revelation  that  ‘ it  is 
not  good  for  man  to  be  alone.’  As  an  upright  and  pure 
citizen,  he  needs  the  support  of  those  who  will  work 
with  him  in  things  ‘ lov^ely  and  of  good  report.’  Much 
more,  as  a wavering,  weak  inebriate,  does  he  need  the 
countenance  and  sustaining  example  of  those  who  are 
endeavoring  to  accomplish  for  themselves  the  task  that 
he  has  undertaken.  To  my  mind,  — and  I speak  from 
experience,  and  not  as  a theorist,  — this  is  one  of  the 
strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  the  establishment  and 


212 


INTEMPEEAITCE, 


Jbearty  support  of  asylums  for  the  cure  of  inebriates.  I 
hold  society  responsible  for  the  fall  of  most  of  those  who 
are  drunkards,  and  therefore  bound  to  do  all  it  can  for 
^ their  restoration.  Until  lately,  it  has  been  content  to 
tempt  young  men  to  the  indulgence  or  creation  of  an 
appetite  for  intoxicating  liquors.  When  it  had  suc- 
ceeded in  arousing  the  thirst  for  liquor,  it  turned  its 
back  upon  the  maddened  inebriate  as  an  outcast ; throw- 
ing him  into  prison  when  his  body  became  helpless,  or 
burying  him  in  the  Potter’s  Field  when  the  natural  re- 
sult of  ruin  and  death  were  accomplished. 

“ Let  us  be  thankful  that  we  have  reached  a day  when 
the  people  begin  to  see  the  error  of  their  waj’s,  and  are 
learning  to  take  part  of  the  drunkard’s  sin  on  their  own 
shoulders.  This  feeling  of  responsibility  is  sufficient  to 
arouse  and  quicken  the  public  mind  in  the  matter  of 
saving  and  reforming  the  inebriate.  But  when,  in  addi- 
tion, it  becomes  evident  that  -this  reformation  has  a 
social  side,  the  best  way  in  which  the  public  can  work 
for  this  end  is  made  apparent.  To  be  successful,  the 
cure  must  be  sought  by  means  of  asylums,  where  a num- 
ber of  patients  are  gathered  together.  Take  the  subject 
in  its  practical  bearings.  After  a long  course  of  indul- 
gence in  drink,  a man  finds  that  his  will  j)Ower  is  almost 
destroyed.  He  has  made  solemn  promises,  and  broken 
them ; has  signed  pledges,  and  violated  them  before  the 
ink  was  scarcely  dry ; has  tried  change  of  location,  and 
found  the  experiment  unavailing.  A fi’iend  advises  him 
to  go  to  an  inebriate  asylum.  He  hesitates,  from  natural 
shame  of  exhibiting  himself  in  such  a character,  but  at 
last  consents.  On  his  journey  he  fancies  himself  scorned 
and  despised  when  he  arrives  at  his  destination,  or  given 
over  to  the  companionship  of  the  Avrecks  and  dregs  of 
humanity.  But  how  is  it  in  fact  ? As  he  enters  his 
new  home,,  he  finds  himself  greeted  by  intelligent,  re- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEiVIEDY. 


213 


fined,  and  rpbu'st  gentlemen,  gathered  from  all  the  walks 
of  life.  They  are  swift  to  make  him  realize  that  they  all 
stand  on  the  same  footing,  and  that  there  is  no  one  in 
the  asylum  who  has  the  right  to  hold  him  in  contempt. 
One.  after  another  details  his  experience  as  they  become 
acquainted,  and  all  tell  him  of  what  they  are  doing  for 
themselves  and  one  another.  As  soon  as  he  is  in  a state 
to  realize  this  fact,  he  is  a new  man.  His  moral  sensi- 
bilities are  awakened,  and  he  begins  to  reahze  that  there 
is  hope  for  him  in  the  future.  What  others  are  doing 
and  have  done  he  also  can  do  for  himself.  Here  are 
men,  some  of  them  the  first  in  the  land,  who  will  never 
despise  him,  and  he  begins  to  believe  that  there  may  be 
others  in  the  world  whose  hearts  will  be  as  kind.  Hence- 
forward, for  him,  ‘ there  is  no  such  word  as/ai7.’  Brood- 
ing thoughts  are  exchanged  for  healthy  companionship, 
and  doubts  and  fears  for  high  resolves.  As  the  result 
of  this  social  influence,  the  work  of  reformation  grows 
easier  every  day.  From  one  and  another  he  hears  the 
story  of  those  who  have  gone  forth  from  the  institution, 
and  taken  their  places  again  in  the  busy  world.  They 
fill  high  positions  in  the  professions,  and  places  of  trust- 
in  the  business  circles,  and  are  living  proofs  of  what  can 
be  done  for  the  inebriate.  When  his  own  will  has  be- 
come strong  enough  to  be  trusted,  he  goes  out  into  the 
battle  with  his  eye  on  those  whose  story  he  knows,  and 
who  know  his  story,  assured  of  their  support  and  respect 
in  the  struggle  that  is  to  follow.  This  source  of  strength 
will  always  be  with  him ; and  it  will  grow  and  spread, 
until  societ}^  at  large  will  become  eager  to  grasp  the  re- 
formed inebriate  by  the  hand,  and  restore  him  at  once  to 
his  forfeited  place,  as  having  earned  it  by  right  of  a hard 
battle  crowned  with  victory. 

“ It  will  be  seen  that  I am  strongly  in  favor  of  insti- 
tutions which  have  a large  numbef  of  patients.  The 


214 


INTEIMPEEAITCE, 


social  effect  is  Letter.  From  a multitude  off  companions 
each  person  can  choose  those  who  are  best  suited  to  his 
habits  and  modes  of  thought.  Besides,  the  presence  of 
numbers  increases  self-confidence.  It  implies  a practical 
belief  in  reformation,  and  a determination  to  shake  off 
the  bondage  of  vice.  The  presence  of  a dozen  patients 
would  appear  merely  experimental ; the  presence  of  a 
hundred  has  the  appearance  of  settled  convictions. 
Again,  I speak  from  experience,  recalling  the  good 
effect  of  the  companionship  of  ninety  inebriates,  repre- 
senting all  sections  and  all  classes,  in  my  own  case. 
They  appealed  at  once  to  the  social  side  of  my  nature, 
making  jne  realize  that  there  was  yet  a place  that  I 
might  fill,  and  work  for  me  to  do.  Their  presence 
strengthened  and  upheld  me  in  the  dark  hours  of  doubt 
that  will  come  to  all  who  are  warring  against  an  enemy 
witiiin  themselves.  Without  their  help,  the  will  would 
have  to  war  alone  against  a foe  whose  wiles  are  legion.” 

With  regard  to  the  time  necessary,  Samuel  W.  Bush, 
the  chaplain  of  the  asylum,  says, — 

“ It  accords  with  my  observation  that  the  longer  any 
one  who  is  in  such  a condition  as  to  be  compelled  to 
come,  here  remains,  the  better  it  is  for  him.  Six  months, 
at  least,  are  reqriired  to  secure  signal  'and  permanent 
benefit.  One  year  would,  in  many  cases,  be  better.  Of 
course  there  are  many  exceptional  cases.  After  a life 
of  wild  and  reckless  dissipation,  in  which  eA'il  habits 
and  modes  of  thought  have  become  ingrained  in  his  A'ery 
nature,  and  with  a constitution  greatly  impaired,  it  is 
not  the  work  of  a day  to  supersede  all  this  bj*  the  use 
of  means  which  will  give  health  to  the  body,  clearness 
and  strength  to  the  mind,  and  vigor  to  the  moral  and 
religious  sensibilities,  and  the  establishment  of  correct 
habits  of  thought  and  action.  These  being  secured,  the 
patient  leaves  the  asylum,  the  grace  of  God  accompany- 
ing him,  a truly  restored  and  renovated  man. 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  REMEDY. 


215. 


“ The  value  and  necessity  of  an  institution  like  this  is 
not  doubtful.  All  are  benefited,  without  an  exception, 
while  within  -its  walls ; and  more  than  half,  it  is  be- 
lieved, on  data  on  winch  reliance  can  be  placed,  are  per- 
manently reformed.  The  most  eminent  of  the  medical 
faculty  concur  in  the  opinion  that  intemperance  is  a dis- 
ease. However  tliis  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  it  has  a 
vampire  hold,  on  the  unfortunate  victim,  from  which 
to  release  himself  he  finds  his  own  efforts  powerless, 
and  which  is  surely  and  rapidly  spreading  destruction 
throughout  his  whole  nature.  He  therefore  needs  the 
aid  of  a physician,  skilled  in  the  maladies  of  both  body 
and  mind  ; a place  — an  asylum  — where,  free  from 
temptation,  and  with  ample  time  for  reflection,  in  con- 
junction with  his  own  efforts,  he  can  allo■^v^the  medical, 
hygienic,  and  pioral  treatment  to  work  out  its  legitimate 
results.” 

This  institution  is  not  altogether  a place  to  which  the 
rich  may  flee  to  hide  themselves,  — those  who  are  able 
to  pay  for  all  they  have,  — but  it  is  largely  of  charitable 
working.  The  report  for  a recent  year  stands  thus : — 

20  per  cent,  are  at  the  rate  of  |20.00  per  week. 

20  “ “ “ “ 15.00  “ “ 

30  “ “ “ ‘‘  5.00  to  10.00  per  week. 

30  “ are  free. 

100  . 

' While  in  all  this  we  see  how  difficult  it  is  to  overcome 
the  fearful  habit  of  intemperance,  it  is  not  yet  quite 
impossible 

• “ That  men  mfy  rise  on  stepping-stones 

Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things.” 

Considering,  however,  the  extreme  risk -that  men  run  in 
the  matter,  it  were  safer  and  wiser  not  to  bring  them- 


216 


IKTEMPEEANCE, 


selves  to  this  living  death,  where  they  are  obliged  to 
take  these  painful  steps  backward  to  regain  a lost  man- 
hood. But  back  of  all  this  individual  obhgation  there 
is  something  more  to  be  done.  These  remedial  measures 
may  do  a good  work  as  far  as  they  go,  but  there  needs 
an  axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree.  These  roots  are  spread 
far  and  wide,  and  they  need  somebody  to  wield  the  axe 
long  and  well  to  make  it  effectual.  Just  as  long  as  the 
law  wiU  lend  its  giant  forces  towards  upholding  and  sus- 
taining the  spreading  branches  of  .this  mighty  thing,  it 
will  continue  to  curse  the  land.  Multitudes  will  gather 
under  and  about  it,  and,  lounging  in  the  shadow  thereof, 
they  will  idle  their  time  away,  waste  their  energies,  and 
cripple  the  bp^'  interests  of  society  and  the  nation,  to 
say  nothing  their  own  personal  wreck  and  ruin. 

If  there  were  anythmg  else  that  was  capable  of 
doing  so  much  for  mankind  as  total  abstinence  can  do, 
the  whole  land  would  be  wild  with  deterrnination  to 
procure  it  at  whatever  cost.  There  is  nothing  that  al- 
lures the  individual  more  strongly  with  promises  of 
health,  wealth,  honor,  peace,  and  every  kind  of  happi- 
ness than  this  — nothing  that  prepares  him  better  to 
become  an  ornament  and  support  to  society,  and  a bless- 
ing to  . the  world  generally.  Would  that  the  flag  of 
total  abstinence  was  waving  over  all  the  land,  and  all 
the  people  were  safe  within  its  folds ! Surely  that 
would  be  one  kind  of  millemiium. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


217 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Temperance  Workers. 

GREAT  PRINCIPLES  IMMORTAL- — DR.  BACON  ON.  SLOW  IDEAS. — THE 
FIRST  PLEDGE. — THE  EARLY  AGITATION.  — DR.  JUSTIN  EDWARDS.  — 
THE  FEARLESS  PREACHER.  — HON.  THEODORE  FRELINGHUTSEN.  — DR. 
JEWETT.  — REV.  THOMAS  P.  HUNT.  — REV.  JOHN  PIERPONT.  — JUDGE* 
CROSBY.  — “ THE  NOTT  CONTROVERSY.”  — FATHER  MATHEW.  — FA- 
THER TAYLOR.  — WASHINGTONIANS.  — JOHN  B:  GOUGH. 


We  have  affirmed  our  belief  in  the  idea,  that  great  prin- 
ciples will  eventually  triumph ; that  they  will  be  sure  to 
come  out  right  in  the  end,  although  subject  to  a thousand 
untoward  influences  in  the  progression,  and  assailed  by 
the  malignant  hates  and  envies  of  men.  In  this  we  are 
met  by  the  taunting  voices  of  many,  saying.  Where  is  the 
promise  of  this  ? Is  it  better  now  than  it  was  in  earlier 
times  when  there  was  less  said  or  thought  about  it  ? On 
the  contrary,  is  not  intemperance  stalking  abroad  more 
defiantly  through  all  the  land,  raising  its  hydra  head 
more  threateningly  than  ever?  In  reply,  we  confess 
that  its  form  is  terrible,  and  its  dominion  from  one  end 
of  the  earth  to  the  other ; that  in  all  the  high  and  low 
places  of  our  country  there  is  great  disturbance  by 
reason  of  it,  and  yet  there  is  a great  difference  in  the 
way  it  is  regarded  now  from  what  it  was  in  the  earlier 
history  of  our  people.  Intoxicating  drinks  are  not  so 
universally  tolerated  now  as  thej’-  once  were.  In  thou- 
sands of  places  where  they  were  once  deemed  essential, 
they  are  now  ruled  out  as  unworthy  and  un-Christian. 
It  argues  not  against  the  work  of  reform  that  it  has 


218 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


made  no  greater  progress.  Great  reformations  are  al- 
ways slow.  It  is  .not  a quick  work  to  uproot  the  rank 
and  noxious  weeds  from  the  fruitful  soil  of  the  human 
heart.  It  is  very  much  hke  trying  to  get  rid  of  a crop  of 
Canada  thistles.  There  is  no  help  in  this  latter  case  but 
to  eject  them,  roots  and  all ; and  it  takes  time  to  do  it. 
Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  once  said,  while  speaking  of  the  prog- 
ress of  the  temperance  idea,  “The  most  interesting  aspect 
in  which  the  temperance  reformation  presents  itself  to  my 
mind,  is  'as’an  illustration  of  the  slow,  but  sure  and' certain, 
progress  of  one  idea  — of  a simple,  hut  great  and  just 
idea.  That  idea,  when  it  was  first  announced,  was  an- 
nounced in  its  legitimate  connection  with  Christianity. 
It  came  from  the  bosom  of  the  church  of  God ; it  came 
from  the  head  of  Christianity.  It  was  argued  and  proved 
with  texts  from  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  Epistles  of  the  apostles.  We  wondered  — those  of 
us  who  composed  it  at  that  early  period  — wondered  that 
there  should  be  so  much  resistance  to  it,  and  we  as- 
cribed it  to  the  j)ower  of  selfishness;  for  we -saw  in 
every  dhection  great  interests,  great  commercial  ambi- 
tion, and  powerful  political  interests,  united  against  the 
progress  of  this  idea.  And  yet,  I apprehend,  we  as- 
cribed too  much  of  this  resistance  to  the  power  of  self- 
ishness and  interest.  We  ought  to  have  remembered, 
more  distinctly,  perhaps,  that  great  ideas,  simple  and 
commanding  as  they  are,  make  but  too  slow  progress  to 
dominion  over  the  minds  of  nations  and  individuals. 
You  may  convince  an  individual  of  the  truth  of  an  idea 
in  conversation  with  him  alone ; but  he  does  not  stay 
convinced.  The  sj'mpathy  between  his  mind  and  that 
of  the  vast  multitude  is  too  strong,  and  it  is  with  your 
argument  as  it  fared  with  Cato  when  he  read  Plato  on 
the  immortality  of  the  soul ; he  was  convinced,  and 
believed ; but  when  he  had  shut  the  book,  he  could  not 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  219 

remember  the  force  of  reasoning  in  the  argument.  It  is 
therefore  in  this  way,  On  this  principle,  that  truth,  sim- 
ple and  commanding  as  it  may  be,  makes  but  slow  prog- 
ress towards  dominion  over  communities  and  nations.” 
If  it  be  that  it  is  slowly  permeating  society,  that  it  is 

■ silently  perfecting  itself  in  the  convictions  of  men,  there 
is  hope  that  the  day  of  practical  results  is  coming.  There 
are  a host  of  honorable  worthies  who  have  given’  them- 
selves to  this  work  with  untiring  energy  and  zeal.  They 
have  lent  the  full  force  of  their  commanding  talents  to 
aid  in  the  mighty  enterprise,  and  many  of  them  have 
gone  up  to  receive  the  reward  of  ,their  labors  in  a higher, 
sphere.  We  have  not  space  to  give  to  each  and  all  that 
consideration  which  their  merits  respectively  demand ; 
but  we  propose  to  give  sketches  of  some  of  the  leading 
spirits  of  difPerent  periods,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  addressed  themselves  to  the  existing  evil.  Heaven 
never  moves  the  world  to  a great  work  but  what  it 
supplies  agencies  to  meet  the  demand.  When  great 
occasions  call,  for  superior  intellects,  they  are  always 
forthcoming.  They  rise  up,  perchance,  from  some  ob- 
scure corner,  where  they  have  been  held  in  a course  of 
unconscious  training  for  their  special  work,  and  surprise 
all  by  their  peculiar  fitness. 

It  is  often  found,  in  tracing  things  back  to  their 
sources,  that  great  matters  have  originated  in  a small 
way,  through  acts  that  have  borne  no  significance  to 

■ their  after  consequences.  It  is  like  throwing  the  stone 
into  the  water,  and  the  narrow  circle  grows  wider  and 
wider  still,  unto  the  end.  One  Micajah  Pendleton,  of 
Virginia,  is  said  to  have  drawn  up  the  first  temperance 
pledge  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge.  'That  was  in 
the  year  1800,  and  was  designed  in  a special  manner  for 
his  .own  household,  and  was  on  the  total  abstinence 
basis.  As  this  came  to  be  known,  other  families  imi- 


220 


INTEMPERANCE, 


tated  his  example,  until  it  became  quite  an  extensive 
home  institution  in  the  state.  Eight  years  later,  the 
first  real  temperance  organization  was  effected  at  Mo- 
reau, Saratoga  Co.,  N.  Y.,  under  the  guardianship  of 
Dr.  B.  J.  Clark  and  Rev.  Lebbeus  Armstrong,  and  forty- 
seven  male  members  signed  the  pledge.  One  article  of 
their  constitution  provided  that  no  member  should  drink 
“ rum,  gin,  whiskey,  wine,  or  any  distilled'  spirits,”  and 
a fine  of  twenty-five  cents  was  imposed  upon  every  one 
who  should  be  guilty  of  violating  the  pledge.  There 
was  no  movement  of  general  interest,  however,  until 
1811,  Avhen  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  came  before  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  ses- 
sion there  at  the  time,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  inau- 
gurating some  scheme  that  should  have  a tendency  to 
awaken  the  public  mind  to  the  wide-spread  and  increas- 
ing ravages  of  intemperance.  But  these  were  only  the 
faint  streaks  of  dawn  before  the  day. 

In  1825,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Justin  Edwards,  that  mighty 
and  fearless  worker  in  every  good  cause,  took  liis  stand, 
in  battle  array,  against  the  foe,  and  produced  a strong 
impression  on  the  public  mind  by  his  well-directed  ef- 
forts. Possessing  a remarkably  clear  and  discriminating 
mind,  having  a strong  and  commanding  utterance,  there 
were  few  men  of  that  day  or  this  who  could  rivet  the 
attention  of  a congregation,  either  in  the  pulpit  or  the 
more  public  convention,  more  strongly  than  he.  He 
seemed  to  be  raised  up  by  Providence  to  act  a special 
part  at  this  particular  stage  of  the  great  reform.  His 
denunciatory  language  and  powerful  arguments  appealed 
to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  and  they  heard 
and  trembled.  At  this  period  both  ministers  and  people 
looked  upon  the  infant  reformation  as  something  to  be 
kept  outside  the  church.  To  have  it  cradled  in  her 
bosom  was  more  than  they  could  bear.  “ Talk  temper- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIMEDY. 


221 


ance  as  much  as  you  please,”  they  said,  “ in  your  tem- 
perance meetings;  but  bring  it  not  into  the  pulpit  on 
the  Sabbath.”  Faithfulness  and  boldness  in.  this  matter 
turned  many  a minister  from  his  place  of  settlement; 
and,  if  it  was  nothing  more,  a single  sermon  might  so 
offend  some  of  the  best  families,  so  called,  — some 
wealthy  brewer,  distiller,  or,  perhaps,  wholesale  dealer, 
— that  they  would  withdraw  their  patronage  and  friend- 
ship, and  make  it  as  uncomfortable  as  possible  for  the  well- 
meaning  brother.  But  once  convinced  of  his  duty.  Dr. 
Edwards  was  not  the  man  to  hesitate  or  parley.  He  felt 
bound  to  come  out  and  openly  remonstrate  against  the 
prevalent  delusion,  and  thus  he  spoke  : “ Shall  the  fires 
■ which  make  this  poison,  burn  on  the  Sabbath  ? Shall 
Jehovah  be  insulted  by  the  appearance  in  the  sanctuary 
of  n^en  who  use  it,  and  yet-the  Sabbath  not  be  occupied 
by  light  and  love  to  abolish  the  use  ? Shall  it  cause  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  even  from  the  pulpit,  to  fall  as  upon 
a rock,  and  yet  the  pulpit  be  dumb  ? or  speak  only  on 
week  days,  when  those  who  traffic  in  it  have  so  much  to 
do  in  furnishing  the  poison,  that  they  have  no  time,  and 
less  inclination,  to  hear  ? If  Satan  can  cause  this  to  be 
believed,  and  those  who  manufacture,  sell,  and  use  the 
weapons  of  his  warfare,  and  multiply  the  trophies  of  his 
victory,  not  hear  of  their  sins  on  the  Sabbath,  when  God 
speaks  to  the  conscience  ; or  be  instructed  from  the  pul- 
pit, his  mercy  seat,  by  the  tears  and  blood  of  a Saviour, 
to  flee  from  coming  damnation,  — the  adversary  will  keep 
his  stronghold;  church  members  will  garrison  it,  and 
provision  it,  and-  fight  for  him.  From  the  communion 
table  he -will  muster  recruits,  and  find  officers  in  those 
who  distribute  the  elements  to  fight  his  battles,  and 
people,  with  increasing  numbers,  his  dark  domains  to 
the  end  of  time.  If  we  may  not,  in  this  warfare,  on 
the  Lord’s  day,  when  he  himself  goes  forth  to  the  battle. 


222 


LNTEMPEEANCE, 


and  commands  upon  the  field;  if  we  may  not  use  his 
weapons,  forged  in  heaven,  and  from  the  high  places  of 
his  erection  pour  them  down,  thick,  heavy,  and  hot, 
upon  the  enemy,  we  may  fight  until  we  die,  and  he  will 
esteem  our  iron  as  straw,  and  our  brass  as  rotten  wood  ; 
our  darts  he  will  count  as  stubble,  and  laugh  at  the 
glittering  of  our  spear,” 

Another  minister,  of  unrecorded  name,  was  greatly 
distressed  on  the  question  of  duty.  There  were  those 
among  the  members  of  his  church  whose  business  it  was 
to  sell  the  vile  stufP,  and  others'  who  were  using  it  in 
their  families,  and  all  seemed  given  over  to  the  fell  in- 
fiuence  of  the  soul-destroying  curse.  He  knew  it  was 
most  hazardous  to  allude  to  the  evil  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  expected,  if  he  did,  some  of  his  best  people  would 
leave  the  house  ; but  he  said,  “ Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die, 
I cannot  go  on  so.  I must  do  my  duty,  and  leave  the 
event  with  God.”  He  did  it,  and  boldly  called  the  sell- 
ing of  ardent  spirit  as  a beverage  a crime,  and  the  using 
of  intoxicating  drink  a sin  against  the  body  and  against 
the  soul.  Men  felt  that  they  were  in  a house  on  fire, 
and  there  was  no  escape  into  the  open  air.  Women  felt 
there  was  no  religion  -in  it,  and  they  would  not  hear 
such  preaching.  The  next  morning,  some  wholesale 
dealers  and  consumers,  heavy  tax-payers,  met  on  the 
sidewalk,  and  said  one  to  another,  “ We  will  bear  this 
no  longer;  let  us  drive  him  off.”  A dry  wag,  listening 
to  their  complaints  and  threats,  said,  “ That’s  right, 
brothers  ; ” and,  alluding  to  several  noted  for  their  infi- 
delity, profanity,  and  Sabbath-breaking,  “ Go  and  get 
those,”  he  continued,  “ and  get  a vote  to  drive  him  out.” 
They  started  back,  for  they  were  professors  of  religion, 
and  good  men.  ' They  saw  where  they  were,  and  where 
their  minister  stood,  and  how  he  had  done  his  duty. 
Some  gave  up  their  traffic,  all  were  quiet,  and  never 
more  had  that  man  any  difficulty  in  doing  his  duty. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


223 


Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  thundered  forth  his  anathemas, 
and  made  such  language  as  the  following  ring  in  the 
ears  of  every  one"  engaged  in  the  traffic:  — 

“ Can  we  lawfully  amass  property  by  a course  of  trade 
which  .fills  the  land  with  beggars,  and  widows,  and 
orphans,  and  crimes ; which  peoples  -the  graveyard  with 
premature  mortality,  and  the  world  of  woe  with  the  vic- 
tims of  despair  ? Could  all  the  forms  of  evil  produced 
in  the  land  by  intemperance  come  upon  us  in  one  horrid 
array,  it  would  appall  the  nation,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirits.  If,  in  every  dwelling  built  by 
blood,  the  stone  from  the  wall  should  utter  all  the  cries 
which  the  bloody  traffic  extorts,  and  the  beam  out  of 
the  timber  should  echo  them  back,  who  would  build 
such  a house  ? What  if  in  every  part  of  the  dwelling, 
from  the  cellar  upward,  through  all  the  halls  and  cham- 
bers, babblings  and  conten.tions,  and  voices  and  groans, 
and  shrieks  and  wailings,  were  heard  day  and  night  ? 
What  if  the  cold  blood  oozed  out,  and  stood  in  drops 
upon  the  walls,  and,  by  preternatural  art,  all  the  ghastly 
skulls  and  bones  of  the  victims  destroyed  by  intemper- 
ance should  stand  upon  the  walls,  in  horrid  sculpture, 
within  and  without  the  building  ? who  would  rear  such 
a building  1 What  if,  at  eventide  and  at  midnight,  the 
airy  forms  of  intemperance  were  dimly  seen  haunting 
the  distilleries  and  stores  where  they  received  their  bane 

— following  the  track  of  the  ship  engaged  in  the  com- 
merce — walking  the  waves  — flitting  athwart  the  dack 

— sitting  upon  the  rigging,  and  sending  up  from  the  hold 
within,  and  from  the  waves  without,  groans  and  loud 
laments  and  wailings!  Who  would  attend  such  stores? 
Who  would  labor  in  such  distilleries  ? Who  would  nav- 
igate such  ships  ? O I were  the  sky  over  our  heads  one 
great  whispering  gallery,  bringing  down  about  us  all  the 
lamentation  and  woe  which  intemperance  creates,  and 


224 


INTEVIPEBAI^CE, 


the  firm  earth  one  sonorous  medium  of  sound,  bringing 
up  around  us  from  beneath,  the  wailings  of  the  damned, 
whom  the  commerce  in  ardent  spirits  had  sent  thither, 
— these  tremendous  realities,  assailing  our  sense,  would 
invigorate  our  conscience,  and  give  decision  to  our  pur- 
pose of  reformation.  But  these  evils  are  as  real  as  if 
the  stone  did  cry  out  of  the  wall,  and  the  beam  answered 
it;  as  real  as  if,  day  and  night,  w'ailings  were  heard  in 
every  part  of  the  dwelling,  and  blood  and  skeletons  were 
seen  upon  every  wall ; as  real  as  if  the  ghostly  forms  of  , 
departed  victims  flitted, about  the  ship  as  she  passed  over 
the  billows,  and  showed  themselves  nightly  about  stores 
and  distilleries,  and  with  unearthly  voices  screamed  in 
our  ears  their  loud  lament.  They  are  as  real  as  if  the 
sky  over  our  heads  collected  and  brought  down  about 
us  all  the  notes  of  sorrow  in  the  land  ; and  the  firm  earth 
should  open  a passage  for  the  wailings  of  despair  to  come 
up  from  beneath.” 

Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  was  another  man  of 
resolute  Avill  and  determined  purpose,  who  gave  his  com- 
bined efforts  to  the  matter  of  total  abstinence,  not  allow- 
ing wim  — as  some  were  pleading  for  in  his  time,  be- 
cause thej''  felt  they  were  called  upon  to  cut  off  the  “ right 
hand.”  and  the  “right  foot,”  also.  “The  great  prin- 
ciple,” said  he,  “ contended  for,  is  the  moral  expediency 
of  this  pure  standard.  Let  it  be  granted  that  men  may 
lawfully  drink  wine ; that  in  Palestine,  where  grapes 
hung  upon  the  boughs  in  the  greatest  profusion,  men 
did  drink  wine ; that  our  Saviour  himself  drank  wine, 
and  sanctioned  it  by  his  example  ; yet  how  different  are 
the  circumstances  in  which  we  find  ourselves  at  this  day! 
Then  there  was  no  such  tiring  as  ardent  spirits,  by  which 
men  were  brutalized  and  destroyed,  both  body  and  soul ; 
and  it  might  mot  have  been  necessary  then  to  abstain 
from  that  which  in  oux,  day  we  look  upon  as  a tempta- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY.  225 

tion  and  a snare,  leading  men  directly  to  intemperance. 
But  now  the  case  presents  itself  to  ps  in  this  light.  A 
great  moral  power,  which  may  bq,  exercised  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  our  fellow-men,  is  offered  to  us  in  this 
total  abstinence  principle.  In  a spirit  of  benignant  feel- 
ing towards,  our  race,  we  adopt  it.” 

Dr.  Jewett  was  long  a faithful  and  earnest  advocate  — 
a popular  lecturer  — and  by  his  own  personal  efforts  did 
much  to  promote  the  cause  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. ■ In  his  story  of  “ Forty  Years’  Fight  with  the. Drink 
Demon,”  he  relates  the  incidents  and  adventures  of  this 
long  eonfliet,  and  also  speaks  of  many  of  those  who  were 
associated  with  him  in  the  great  enterprise.  Among  these 
was  Eev.  Thomas  P.  Hunt,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  whom  it 
is  said,  he  gave  the  whole  subject  a more  thoughtful  and 
candid  consideration  than  almost  any  other  living  man. 
Those  who  knew  him  recollect  the  deformed  figure,  and 
also  remember  the  expression  of  his  keen  eye,  the  pe- 
culiar tones  of  his  impressive  voice,  which  lent  a charm 
and  power  to  whatever  he  said.  A friend  says  of  him, 
by  the  time  he  had  related  an  incident,  “ all  eyes  were 
riveted  upon  that  little  crooked  man,  with  the  large 
mouth  and  the  lightning  eyes,  and  all  ears  were  open 
to  hear  instruction  from  him.”  Such  was  the  effect  of 
the  following,  with  which  he  commenced  his  narrative 
on  a certain  evening : — 

“Ladies  and- Gentlemen : I last  evening  delivered 
a discourse  at  Washington  Factory  Village,  in  the  town 
of  Coventry.  As  I was  quite  at  leisure  during  the 
afternoon  preceding  the  lecture,  I proposed  to  walk  out 
for  a little  exercise.  A friend  suggested  that  I might 
do  some  service  to  the  people  of  the  village,  perhaps,  by_ 
calling  on  Mr.  Capwell,  the  keeper  of  the  hotel,  and 
having  a talk  with  him.  He  was  represented  -to  me  as 
a very  clever  sort  of  a man,  good-natured,  not  at  all  in- 
clined to  be  abusive,  and  it  was  thought  my  words  might 
14 


226 


rNTEMPEEANCE, 


be  of  service  to  him.  I called  upon  him ; introduced 
myself  as  the  person  who  was  to  speak  on  temperance 
in  the  evening,  and  found  him  disposed  to  listen  to  me 
with  patience  and  candor.  I told  him  I had  been  in- 
formed that  he  was  the  possessor*  of  considerable  real 
estate  in  the  village,  and  assured  him  that  whatever 
should  have  the  effect  to  lessen  the  intelligence  of  the 
people,  and  to  lower  the  standard  of  public  morals,  as  I 
was  quite  sure  his  traffic  would  do,  though  he  might  not 
intend  it,,  would  most  certainly  diminish  the  value  of  his 
real  estate,  as  it  would  render  the  village  a less  desirable 
place  of  residence.  And  I suggested  to  him  that,  in  the 
long  run,  he  would  lose  more  by  this  depreciation  of 
property,  than  he  would  gain,  directly,  by  his  traffic. 
He  was  listening  to  me  with  evident  interest,  and  I 
could  not  but  hope  I was  making  a favorable  impression 
on  his  mind,  when,  all  at  once,  a side  door  opened,  and 
a little  bit  of  a woman  rushed  into  the  room  so  swiftly 
that  her  cap-border  was  turned  back  on  her  head  by  the 
current  of  air  she  created,  and  in  a very  excited  manner, 
and  with  a very  shrill  voice,  she  exclaimed,  ‘ I do  wish 
that  people  would  mind  their  own  business.’ 

“ Taken  quite  aback  for  the  moment  by  this  startling 
introduction  and  speech,  I replied,  ‘ Well,  madam,  and  so 
do  I ! I agree  with  you,  exactly,  madam.  That  is  an 
excellent  sentiment  of  yours.  I approve  of  it  everywhere 
and  always.  I am  a temperance  lecturer,  madam,  and 
you  see  now,  that  while  I am  persuading  this  gentleman, 
your  husband,  very  likely,  madam,  to  abandon  the  sale 
of  liquors,  which  make  men  drunk,  I was  laboriiig  right 
along  in  the  line  of  my  business.  You  see  I agree  with 
3^ou  entirety.  That  is  an  excellent  sentiment  of  y*ours. 
"One  reason  why  I labor  to  persuade  men  to  leave  off 
drinking,  is  because  the  use  of  liquor  does,  notoriousty, 
lead  men  to  neglect  their  business.  For  instance,  here 
is  a carpenter.  He  has  a fine  shop  and  good  tools.  He 
is  himself  a good  workman,  and  has  not  only  apprentices 
to  aid  him,  but  also  skilled  workmen.  He  ought  to  do  a 
large  business,  but  he  does  not.  What  is  the  trouble  ? 
The  public  know  that  he  is  a free  drinker,  and  that  he 
has,  frequently,  in  the  midst  of  an  important  job,  gone 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDT. 


227 


off  on  a spree,  and  the  work. has  stopped  in  consequence. 
Business  men  don’t  like  to  intrust  to  him  important  jobs 
on  that  account.  Now,  don’t  you  see,  if  I could  induce 
that  clever  carpenter  to  leave  off  his  drinking,  he  would 
thereafter  mind  his  own  business.  You  see  I agree  with 
you  exactly,  madam.’  Just  here  she  turned  upon  her 
heel  and  rushed  out  of  the  room,  not  even  stopping  to. 
bid  me  good  afternoon.  I felt  aggrieved  at  it.  I nat- 
urally like  the  ladies,  and  love  to  be  in  agreement  with 
them  always  when  I can.  And  when,  as  in  this  case,  I 
take  great  pains  to  prove  that  I am  in  accord  with  them, 
I like  to  have  the  fact  appreciated,  and  to  be  treated 
with  courtesy.” 

In  1838,  at  a state  convention  held  in  Boston,  Mass., 
it  was  resolve'd  that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  secure, 
from  the  legislature  of  the  state,  at  its  next  session,  a 
law  prohibiting  the  traffic,  and  Rev.  John  Pierpont  was 
commissioned  to  present  a petition  to  that  honorable 
body,  in  which  occurs  this  emphatic  and  eloquent  para- 
graph : — 

“If  I be  willingly  accessory  to  my  brother’s  death, 
by  a pis’tol  or  cord,  the  law  holds  me  guilty ; but  guilt- 
less if  I mix  his  death-drink  in  a cup.  The  halter  is  my 
reward  if  I bring  him  his  death  in  a bowl  of  hemlock  ; 
if  in  a glass  of  spirits,  I am  rewarded  with  his  purse. 
Yet  who  would  hot  rather  die,  who  would  not  rather 
see  his  child  die,  by  hemlock  than  rum  ? The  law  raises 
me  a gallows  if  I set  fire  to  myneighbor’s  house,  though 
not  a soul  perish  in  the  flames.  But  I may  throw  a torch 
into  his  household  — I may  lead  his  children  through  a 
fire  more  consuming  than  Moloch’s  — I may  make  his 
whole  family  a burnt-offering  upon  the  altar  of  Mammon, 
and  the  same  law  holds  its  shield  between  me  and  harm. 

“ It  has  installed,  me  in  my  office,  and  it  comes  in  to 
protect  alike  the  priest,  ‘the  altar,  and  the  God.’  For 
the  victims  it  has  no  sympathies.  For  them  it  provides 


228 


INTEMPERANCE, 


neither  ransom  nor  avenger.  But  there  is'  an  Avenger. 
While  these  sacrifices  are  smoking  on  their  thousand 
altars,  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land,  the 
Ruler  of  the  nations  is  bringing  upon  us  the  penalties  of 
his  laws,  in  the  consequences  of  breaking  them.  Even 
now.  He  who  renders  to  every  land,  as  to  every  man, 
according  to  its  works,  is  showing  us  that  He  is  as  strict 
to  visit  with  suffering  those  who  violate  his  organic  and 
moral  laws,  as  he  is  ready  to  accumulate  good  upon  those 
who  observe  them.  The  fields  of  our  great  country, 
which  He  has  charged  with  the  elements  of  plenty,  — 
which  are,  every  year,  waiting  to  be  bountiful,  — which 
He  waters,  ‘ that  they  may  bud  and  bring  forth,  and  give 
seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater,’  are  becoming 
like  the  field  of  the  slothful  riian  of  old.  They  are  ‘ over- 
grown with  thorns  ; nettles  are  covering  the  face  thereof; 
and  the  stone  walls  thereof  are  broken  down.’  The 
hand  and  the  mind  of  the  cultivator  are  struck  with  the 
palsy  of  intemperance.  A great  portion  of  the  bread- 
corn,  which  the . land,  grateful  for  even  niggardly  cul- 
ture, pours  into  the  husbandman’s  bosom,  is  snatched 
from  his  children’s  mouths  for  the  craving  maw  of  the 
distillery ; and  when  that  which  God  gave  as  the  sup- 
porter of  life  has  been  converted  into  its  destroyer,  the 
vessels  that  waft  the  destruction  to  the  nations  on  the 
Baltic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Black  Seas,  bring 
back  from  those  nations,  and  at  their  own  price,  the  very 
bread  of  which  we  have  first  robbed  ourselves,  in  order 
that  we  may  ruin  them'.” 

The  law  vras  enacted,  and  Judge  Crosby,-  agent  of 
the  Massachusetts  Temperance  Union,  sent  out  a circular, 
which  embodied  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  friends  of  tem- 
perance everywhere  to  sustain  the  majesty  of  law,  and 
work  for  the  general  good  of  the  cause.  After  suggest- 
ing some-  methods,  he  concludes  by  saying,  Remember 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  229 

that  deliverance  from  the  evils  of  the  rum  traffic  and  use 
is  too  great  a hiessing  to  he  obtained  without  great  labor. 
Would  you  have  angels’  joy?  Do  angels’  work:  visit 
the  sick — feed  the  hungry  — clothe  the  naked  — hind 
up  the  broken  heart  — and  wipe  away  the  tear  of  the 
drunkard’s  wife  ; and  will  not  the  laborer  have  his  hire  ? ” 
In  1'846  occurred  what  was  called  the  “ Nott  contro- 
versy.” Dr.  Nott,  President  of  Union  College,  entered 
the  field  as'  a temperance  lecturer,  and  by  the  power  of 
his  commanding  eloquence  and  distinguished  scholarship^ 
he  drew  large  and  appreciative  audiences,  and  exerted  a 
wide  influence.^  But,  notwithstanding  his  finished  pro- 
ductions, many  took  exception  to  the  whole  thing,  be- 
cause of  an  inclination  which  was  manifest  to  favor  the 
use  of  wines^  as  largely  exempt  from  alcoholic  influence. 
Total  abstinence  had  come  to  be  a thing  of  meaning 
among  the  people,  and  it  was  feared  that  such  authority 
would  be  so  perverted  as  to  produce  bad  practical  re- 
sults. Eminent  men  took  issue  against  him,  and  the 
contest  was  warm ; but  it  was  finally  settled  by  the  bold 
statement  of  the  venerable  president,  which  left-no  doubt 
as  to  where  he  stood:  “I  hold  to  the  utter  abandon- 
ment of  the  use,  as  a beverage,  of  distilled  or  fermented 
liquors  of  every  sort,  especially  of  wines,  whether  good 
or  bad,  having  much  or  little  alcohol  in  them  ; ” and  this 
is  the  language  with  which  he  addressed  the  venders : — 

“ Brethren,  inn-keepers,  grocers ; whose  business  it 
has  been  to  sell  to  drinkers  the  drunkard’s  drink,  has  it 
never  occurred  to  your  minds  that  the  liquors  dispensed 
were  destined,  though  unseen  by  you,  to  blanch  some  * 
glow  of  health,  to  wither  some  blossom  of  hope,  to  dis- 
turb some  asylum  of  peace,  to  pollute  some  sanctuary 
of  innocence,  or  plant  gratuitous,  perhaps  enduring  mis- 
ery in  some  bosom  of  joy  ? Have  you  never  in  imagina- 
tion followed  the  wretched  inebriate,  whose  glass  you 


230 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


have  poured  out,  or  whose  jug  or  bottle  you  have  filled, 
— have  you  never,  in  imagination,  followed  him  to  his 
unblessed  and  comfortless  abode  ? Have  you  never 
mentally  witnessed  the  faded  cheek  and  tearful  eye  of 
his  broken-hearted  wife  — never  -witnessed  the  wistful 
look  and  stified  cry  of  his  terror-stricken  children,  wait- 
ing at  nightfall  his  dreaded  return,  and  marked  the 
thrill  of  horror  which  the  approaching  sound  of  his  foot- 
steps sent  across  their  bosoms  ? Have  you  never,  in 
thought,  marked  his  rude  entrance,  his  ferocious  look, 
his  savage  yell,  and  that  demoniacal  frenzy  under  the 
influence  of  which  — father,  husband,  as  he  was  — he 
drove  both  wife  and  children  forth,  exposed  to  the  win- 
try blast  and  the  peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm,  or,  deny- 
ing them  even  this  refuge,  how  he  has  smitten  them 
both  to  the  earth  beneath  his  murderous  arm  ? • 

“ And  ye,  men  of  fortune,  manufacturers,  importers, 
w'holesale  dealers,  will  you  not,  for  the  sake  of  the 
young  and  the  old,  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  happy,  the 
miserable,  — in  one  word,  for  the  sake  of  our  common 
humanity,  in  all  the  states  and  forms  in  which  it  is  pre- 
sented,— will  you  not  shut  up  your  distilleries,  counter- 
mand your  orders,  and  announce  the  Heaven-approved 
resolution  never  hereafter  to  do  aught  to  swell  the  issue 
of  these  waters  of  woe  and  death  with  which  this  young 
republic  is  already  flooded  ? Have  you  never  thought, 
as  you  rolled  out  and  delivered  to  the  purchaser  his 
cask,  how  many  m(jthers  must  mourn,  how  many  wives 
must  suffer,  how  many  children  must  supplicate,  how 
many  men  of  virtue  must  be  corrupted,  men  of  honor 
debased,  and  of  intelligence  demented,  by  partaking  of 
that  fatal  poison  ? These  are  evils  which  God  registers 
in  his  book  of  remembrance,  and  which  the  day  of  judg- 
ment will  bring  to  light ; for  at  home  and  abroad,  in  the 
city  and  the  country,  in  the  solitude  and  by  the  wayside. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


231 


it  is  not  blessings,  but  curses,  that  the  venders  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors  dispense  to  their  customers.” 

The  reformation  received  a new  impetus  in  1849  by 
the  arrival  of  Father  Mathew  from  Ireland.  He  had 
been  a zealous  laborer  among  his  own  countrymen,  in- 
ducing thousands  to  sign  the  pledge,  and  encouraging 
them  in  every  way  to  hold  on  in  the  good  way.  His 
fame  had  spread  to  these  shores,  and  much  was  hoped 
for,  especially  among  those  of  his  own  nationality,  by 
his  peculiar  force  and  tact.  They  flocked  about  him, 
and  listened  to  him  as  they  would  not  listen  to  any  other 
on  the  blessings  of  temperance,  and  the  importance  of 
taking  a decided  stand  for  it.  On  one  occasion,  an  old 
man  kept  drawing  nearer  to  his  side,  until  within  reach 
of  his  hand,  when  Father  Mathew  placed  it  upon  his 
head  in  blessing.  The  astonished  subject  looked  up  and  ' 
stammered  forth,  — 

“And  here  ye  are  a blessing  a hot-headed  Orange- 
man ! ” alluding  to  a political  distinction  of  his  own 
country. 

“ I don’t  care  if  jmu  are  a Ze?72bn-man,”  said  the  fervid 
apostle,  “if  you  will  sign  the  pledge  and  keep  it.” 

He  went  through  the  country,  awakening  an  interest 
in  the  grand  work  wherever  he  journeyed.  At  all  points 
the  people  did  him  honor  as  the  champion  of  a good 
cause.  At  Washington  he  was  invited  to  a seat  within 
the  bar  of  the  House,  and  several  handsome  tributes 
were  paid  to  his  worth  by  some  of  the  first  men  in  the 
country.  General  Cass  said,  — 

“This  is  but  a complimentary  notice  to  a distinguished 
man  just  arrived  among  us,  and  well  does  he  merit  it. 
He  is  a stranger  to  us  personally,  but  he  has  won  a 
world-wide  renown.  He  comes  among  us  upon  ,a  mis- 
sion of  benevolence,  not  unlike  Howard,  whose  name 
and  deeds  rank  high  in  the  annals  of  philanthropj^,  and 


232 


ZNTEjVIPERANCE, 


who  sought  to  cany  hope  and  comfort  into  the  darkest 
cells,  and  to  alleviate  the  moral  and  physical  condition 
of  their  unhappy  tenants.  He  comes  to  break  the  bonds 
of  the  captive,  and  to  set  the  prisoner  free ; to  redeem 
the  lost ; to  confirm  the  wavering  ; and  to  aid  in  saving 
air  from  the  dangers  and  temptations  of  int  emperance. 
It  is  a noble  mission,  and  nobly  is  he  fulfiUing  it.” 

Societies  sprang  into  existence  that  were  made  to  bear 
his  name,  and  multitudes  ascribed  their  salvation,  from  a 
temporal  foe  at  least,  to  his  efforts. 

L.  ]\I.  Sargent  was  a young  man  of  collegiate  educa- 
tion, who  prepared  himself  for  the  legal  profession,  but, 
inheriting  sufficient  pecuniary  resources  to  enable  him  to 
rise  independent  of  that,  and  having  decided  literary 
taste,  he  took  the  pen  in  defence  of  the  popular  cause, 
and  by  his  books  and  tracts  he  disseminated  widely  the 
spirit  of  resistance  against  the  nation’s  enemy. 

“Father  Taylor”  was  another  warrior  in  the  ranks. 
Dr.  Jewett  says  of  him,  — 

“ I have  a very  distinct  recollection  of  his  speech  at 
a temperance  soiree,  got  up  by  the  ladies  of  Charles- 
town, ■ Mass.  All  matters  connected  with  it  had  been 
happily  arranged,  and  “ Father  Taylor  ” was  in  one  of 
his  best  moods.  After  presenting  to  the  assembled 
throng  some  startling  views  of  the  terrible  system  on 
which  the  ladies  were  then  waging  a pretty  vigorous 
war,  he  closed  by  one  of  those  bursts  of  eloquence  which 
it  would  seem  impossible  to  forget.  Scores,  perhaps 
hundreds,  now  living  in  sight  of  the  granite  shaft,  will 
remember  the  occasion,  and,  if  they  shall  peruse  these 
pages,  will  bear  witness  to  the  accuracy  of  the  report  I 
am  about  to  make  of  his  words,  after  the  lapse  of  almost 
thirty-  years : — 

“‘And  here  it  is  yet,  the  accursed  system,  to  plague 
,and  torture  us,  although  we  have  exposed  its  villanies 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  233 

until  it  would  seem  that  Satan  himself  ought  to  be 
ashamed  to  have  any  connection  with  it.,  I am  not  sure 
but  he  is,  but  some  of  his  servants  have  more  brass  and 
less  shame  than  their  master.  Yes,  here  it  is  yet ; and 
over  there,  too,  in  the  great  city,  — the  Athens  of 
America,  where  the  church  spires,  as  they  point  ifp- 
Avard,  are  almost  as  thick  as  the  masts  of  the  shipping 
along  the  wharves,  — all  the  machinery  of  the  drunkard- 
making, soul-destroying  business  is  in  perfect  running 
order,  from  the 'low  grog  holes  on  the  dock  — kept  open 
to  ruin  my  poor  sailor  boys  — to  the  great  black  estab- 
lishments in  Still  House  Square,  which  are  ipouring  out 
the  elements  of  death,  even  on  God’s  holy  day,  and  send- 
ing up  a smoke  as  from  the  pit  forever  and  ever  ! • And 
your  wives  and  daughters,  even  as  they  walk  to  their 
churches  on  Sunda}^,  brush. the  very  skirts  of  their  silk 
dresses  against  the  mouths  of  open  grog  shops  that  gape 
by  the  way.  And  your  poorhouses  are  full,  and  your 
courts  and  prisons  are  filled  with  the  victims  of  this  in- 
fernal rum  traffic  ; and  your  homes  are  full  of  sorroAV, 
and  the  hearts  of  your  wives  and  mothers ; and  yet  the 
system  is  tolerated.  Yes,  and  when  we  ask  some  men 
what  is  to  be  done  about  it,  they  tell  you  you  can’t  stop 
it!  No,  you  can’t  stop  it!  And  yet’  (darting  across  the 
platform,  and  pointing  in  the  direction  of  the  monu- 
ment, he  exclaimed,  in  a voice  that  pierced  one’s  ears 
like  the  blare  of  a trumpet),  ‘ there’s  Bunker  Hill,  and 
you  say  5mu  can’t  stop  it ! And  up  yonder  are  Lexington 
and  Concord,  Avhere  your  fathers  fought  for  the  right, 
and  bled  and  died.  And  you  look  on  .those  monuments 
and  boast  of  the  heroism  of  your  fathers,  and  then  tell 
us  we  must  submit  to  be  taxed  and  tortured  by. this  rum 
business,  and  we  can’t  stop  it ! No!  And  yet’  (draw- 
ing himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and  expanding  his  nat- 
urally broad  chest  as  though  the  Avords  he  would  utter 


234 


INTEMPBEANCE, 


had  blocked  up  the  usual  avenues  of  speech,  and  were 
about  to  force  their  way  out  by  an  explosion,  he  ex- 
claimed, in  a sort  of  whispered  scream),  ‘ your  fathers 
— your  patriotic  fathers  — could  make  a cup  of  tea  for 
his  Britannic  majesty  out  of  a . whole  cargo,  and  you 
can’t  cork  up  a gin-jug!  Hal’  ” 

Such  was  “ Father  Taylor,”  the  sailor  preacher.  “His 
name  and  fame  had  reached  distant  states  and  cities,  and 
distinguished  scholars  and  statesmen  wo.uld,  when  in 
Boston  on  the  Sabbath,  find  their  way  to  the  Mariners’ 
chapel,  to  listen  to  the  man  of  the  sea,  who  got  his  di- 
ploma before  the  mast,  whose  theology  was  about  as 
variable  as  the  wind  and  the  weather,  and  yet  whose 
earnestness  and  native  eloquence  had  power  to  capti- 
vate and  hold  in  rapt  attention,  often  for  a full  hour,  the 
most  gifted  and  highly  cultivated  in  the  land,  while 
bringing  tears  to  the  eyes  of  bronzed  and  hard  men,  as 
he  cheered  the  desjDonding,  startled  the  thoughtless  and 
indifferent,  and  awakened  in  the  breasts  of  many  of  the 
charmed  circle  before  him  aspirations  for  a higher  and 
better  life.” 

In  what  was  called  the  Washingtonian  movement 
there  came  a new  and  novel  feature  to  the  work. 
Drunkards  from  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation  lifted 
themselves  up,  and  went  on  to  the  stage  with  their 
thrilling  narratives  of  how  they  fell  and  rose  again,  and 
it  created  a sensation  almost  without  a parallel.  Under 
the  influence  of  that  movement,  thousands  signed  the 
pledge,  and  were  saved  to  themselves,  their  families, 
and  their  country.  All  along  down  through  the  path- 
way of  the  years,  there  have  not  been  wanting  faithful 
workers  in  this  part  of  the  vineyard.  They  are  a noble 
host,  and  their  names  would  make  a long  list.  They 
live  in  the  memories  and  hearts  of  men,  and  whatever 
they  have  done  for  the  good  of  their  race  will  meet  its 
appropriate  reward. 


THE  WASHINGTONIANS 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


235 


There  is  one  more  name,  without  which  our  galaxy 
would  not  he  complete  — John  B.  Gough.  He  still 
lives,  and  the  world  knows  him,  and  what  he  has  done. 
The  power  of  his  resistless  eloquence  to  touch  the 
heart  and  sway  the  multitude  is  seen  and  felt  by  all 
who  have  heard  him.  Words  cannot  describe  it,  but, 
as  a specimen  of  his  early  efforts,  we  give  the  following 
paragraph  in  closing : — 

“ What  fills  the  almshouses  and  jails  ? What  brings 
yon  trembling  wretch  upon  the  gallows  ? It  is  drink. 
And  we  might  call  upon  those  in  the  tomb  to  break 
forth.  Ye  mouldering  victims ! wipe  the  grave  dust 
crumbling  from  your  brow  ; stalk  forth,  in  your  tattered 
shrouds  and  bony  whiteness,  to  testify  against  the  drink  ! 
Come,  come  forth  from  the  gallows,  you  spirit-maddened 
man-slayer ! give  up  your  bloody  knife,  and  stalk  forth 
to  testify  against  it ! Crawl  from  the  slimy  ooze,  ye 
drowned  drunkards,  and  with  suffocation’s  blue  and 
livid  lips  speak  out  against  the  drink  ! Unroll  the  rec- 
ord of  the  past,  and  let  -the  recording  angel  read  out 
the  murder  indictments  written  in  God’s  book  of  re- 
membrance ! Ay,  let  the  past  be  unfolded,  and  the 
shrieks  of  victims  wailing  be  borne  down  upon  the  night 
blast ! Snap  your  burning  chains,  ye  denizens  of  the 
pit,  and  come  up  sheeted  in  the  fire,  dripping  with  the' 
flames  of  hell,  and  with  your  trumpet  tongues  testify* 
against  the  damnation  of  the  drink ! ” 

Of  those  who  began  this  work,  some  are  living  to-day, 
and  I should  like  to  stand  now  and  see  the  mighty  en- 
terprise as  it  rises  before  them.  They  worked  hard  ; 
they  lifted  the  first  turf,  prepared  the  way  in  which  to 
lay  the  corner-stone  ; they  laid  it  amid  persecution  and 
storms.  They  worked  under  the  surface,  and  men  al- 
most forgot  that  there  were  busy  hands  laying  the  solid 
foundation  far  down  beneath.  By  and  by  they  got  the 


236 


INTEMPERANCE, 


foundation  above  tbe  surface,  and  then  commenced  an- 
other storm  of  persecution.  Now  we  see  the  superstruc- 
ture, pillar  after  pillar,  tower  after  tower,  column  after 
column,  with  the  capitals  emblazoned,  “ Love,  truth, 
sympathy,  and  good-will  to  aU  men.”  Old  meii  gaze 
upon  it  as  it  grows  up  before  them.  They  will  not  live 
to  see  it  completed,  but  they  see  in  faith  the  crowning 
cope-stone  set  upon  it.  Meek-eyed  women  weep  as  it 
grows  in  beauty  ; children  strew  the  pathway  of  work- 
men with  flowers.  W e do  not  see  its  beauty  yet ; we 
do  not  see  the  magnificence  of  the  superstructure ' yet, 
because  it  is  in  process  of  erection.  Scaffolding,  ropes, 
ladders,  workmen  ascending  and  descending,  mar  the 
beauty  of  the  building ; bat  by  and  by,  when  the  hosts 
who  have  labored  shall  come  up  oTer  a thousand  battle- 
fields, waving  Avith  bright  grain,  never  again  to  be 
crushed  in  the  distillery  ; through  vineyards  under  trel- 
lised  vines,  with  grapes  hanging  with  all  their  purple 
glory,  never  again  to  be  pr&ssed  into  that  which  can 
debase  and  degrade  mankind  ; when  they  shall  come 
through  orchards,  under  trees  hanging  thick  with  golden, 
pulpy  fruit,  never  to  be  turned  into  that  which  can  in- 
jure and  debase  ; when  they  shall  come  up  to  the  last 
distillery,  and  destroy  it ; to  the  last  stream  of  liquid 
death,  and  dry  it  up ; to  the  last  weeping  wife,  and 
wipe  her  tears  gently  away ; to  the  last  little  child,  and 
lift  him  up  to  stand  where  God  wills  that  mankind 
should  stand ; to  the  last  drunkard,  and  nerA’e  him  to 
burst  the  -burning  fetters,  and  make  a glorious  accom- 
paniment to  the  song  of  freedom  by  the  clanking  of  his 
broken  chain  — then,  ah,  then ! will  the  cope-stone  be 
set  upon  it,  the  scaffolding  will  fall  with  a crash,  and 
the  building  will  start  in  its  wondrous_  beauty  before  an 
astonished  Avorld. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


237 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Tempeeancb  Societies. 

UNITED  ACTION,  EIEST  NATIONAL  TEMPEHANCE  CONVENTION.  — VIEW 

OE  DR.  HITCHCOCK., MEETING  AT  FANEDIL  HALL.  — REV.  JOHN 

MARSH.  world’s  TEMPERANCE  CONVENTION  AT  LONDON.  TEM-  ' 

PERANCE  AND  LIFE  INSURANCE.  — SONS  OF  TEMPERANCE.  — GOOD 
TEMPLARS.  — THEIR  ORIGIN.  — FATHER  BRISTOL.  — • TEMPLARS  OF 
HONOR  AND  TEMPERANCE.  — EXTRACT  FROM  TEMPLARS’  MANUAL.  — 
RECHABITES.  — GOOD  SAMARITANS.  — IS  TEMPERANCE  A FAILURE  ? 

“ Union  is  strength.”  A general  cannot  fight  his 
battles  without  an  army  of  disciplined  soldiers.  They 
must  be  organized,  equipped,  and  labor  with  some  con- 
certed plan  of  action,  or  failure  will  be  written  upon 
every  attempt.  So  these  able  and  efficient  workers  in 
the  temperance  movement  thought,  and  they  went  to 
work  to  marshal  their  forces  and  decide  upon  some  def- 
inite plan  of  action,  some  systematic  method  of  pro- 
cedure. A high  purpose  urged  them  onward.  Their 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  a grand  consummation  — upon  the 
time  when  victory  should  perch  on  their  banners,  and 
the  world  should  be  free  from  the  dominion  of  intem- 
perance. It  nerved  them  to  mighty  efforts.  Such  re- 
sults were  worthy  of  united  and  persistent  action,  and  by 
such  only  could  they  be  obtained.  It  was  no  sectional 
consideration.  The  whole  land  was  suffering,  and  the 
plan  must  embrace  the  uttermost  border.  Most  of  those 
who  were  deeply  interested  were  men  engaged  in 
preaching  the  everlasting  gospel,  and  their  hearts  were 
absorbed  in  the  work ; but  how  could  the  Heaven- 


238 


INTEMPEEAl^CE, 


appointed  truths  with  which  they  had  to  do,  have  any 
power  over  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men  while 
they  were  hardened  and  seared  under  the  stupefying 
potions  of  an  ever-active  poison  ? A way  must  be  paved 
whereon  truth  must  do  its  legitimate  work,  or  their 
labors  were  fruitless.  Thus  they  reasoned,  and  .upon 
this  they  acted.  From  the  commencement  of  the  agita- 
tion there  had  been  a steady  progression  of  the  ideas  and 
principles,  of  reform.  The  opinions  and  efforts  of  these 
men  had  been  like  leaven,  silently  working  its  way  into 
society,  and  showing  its  influence  everywhere.  The  ra- 
pidity of  action  may  be  seen  in  the  fact,  that  in  six  years 
from  the  first  inauguration  of  effort,  it  was  estimated 
there  were,  in  different  parts  of  our  country,  over  four 
thousand  temperance  societies,  with  over  half  a million 
of  members  ; fifteen  hundred  distilleries  had  ceased  their 
operations,  and  four  thousand  merchants  had  ceased  to 
continue  their  unholy  traffic  in  the  unwholesome  bever- 
age. It  was  also  supposed  that  a million  and  a half  of 
persons  had  abstained  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and 
that  twenty  thousand  families  were  in  ease  and  comfort 
who  otherwise  would  have  been  cursed  with  poverty  and 
wretchedness.  This  greatly  cheered  and  encouraged 
those  who  were  interested  in  the  matter,  and  agencies 
were  multiplied,  new  conditions  of  working  added ; so 
that  the  3"ear  following  that  which  made  the  above  cal- 
culations, the  statistics  had  nearly  doubled,  and  the  in- 
terest had  extended  not  onl}^  through  the  land,  but  also 
to  our  ships  on  the  ocean  ; and  those  who  v/ere  wont  to 
set  sail  with  this  in  their  cargo,  now  knew  it  no  more. 

It  would  swell  the  present  volume  far  bet’ond  our  in- 
tention, to  follow  out,  minutely,  the  different  societies, 
with  their  varied  forms,  that  have  been  springing  up, 
here  and  there,  all  along  down  the  pathway’  of  years. 
Their  name  is  Legion.  While  we  give  our  attention  to 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


239 


a few  of  the  more  prominent,  and  seek  to  trace  out  the 
advance  of  the  public  mind  in  these,  we  yet  commend  the 
many  for  their  works  of  mercy  and  labors  of  love,  all  of 
which  shall  be  counted  in  the  summing  up  of  those  things 
which  are  to  redeem,  as  we  hope,  our  fair  heritage 
from  the  curse  that  has  so  long  been  upon  it.  The  first 
National  Temperance  Convention  was  held  at  Philadel- 
phia, on  the  24th  of  May,  1833,  in  the  Hall  of  Indepen- 
dence. There  were  present  at  that  meeting  four  hundred 
delegates,  from  twenty-one  states.  It  was  pronounced 
the  largest  assembly  that  ever  convened  together  for 
any  moral  purpose,  in  this  or  any  other  country.  The 
presiding  officers  were  strong  men.  Their  “ object  was, 
by  the  diffusion  of  information,  and  the  exertion  of  a 
kind  moral  influence,  to  extend  the  principles  and  bless- 
ings of  temperance  throughout  the  world.”  To  us,  who 
occupy  the  present  high  plane  of  temperance  reform,  it 
seems  strange  to  observe  the  action  on  this  occasion  ; but 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  stalwart  conditions  of 
manhood  are  not  to  be  looked  for  in  infancy.  It  was  a 
promising  little  thing,  but  it  was  not-  grown  up.  They 
had  a long  and  animating  discussion  upon  “ a resolution 
which  expressed  the  sentiment  that  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirits,  to  be  used  as  a beverage,  is  mo7-dlly  wrong,  and 
ought  to  be  universally  abandoned.”  It  was  finally 
passed;  and  says  a writer  of  the  time,  “Had  the  conven- 
tion done  nothing  else  but,  after  examination,  expressed 
their  opinion  on  this  point,  they  had  done  a deed  which 
would  have  marked  them  as  benefactors  to  their  country.” 

Such  they  were,  and  as  such  are,  they  regarded  to  this 
day.  Their  ideas  became  the  basis  of  reform  ; but  grad- 
ually the  lines  were  drawn  closer,  and  the  conditions 
maile  more  rigid,  until  in  1836,  when  the  American 
Temperance  Union  was  formed  on  the  principle  of  total 
abstinence,,  and  was  -destined  to  become  the  leading 


240 


■ ixte:mpeea2^ce, 


organization,  of  the  land.  The  pledge  of  the  Union  -u-as 
as  follows  : “ We,  the  undersigned,  do  agree  that  we  will 
not  use  intoxicating  hquors  as  a beverage,  nor  trafi&c  in 
them  ; that  we  will  not  provide  them  as  an  article  of  en- 
tertainment, or  for  persons  in  our  employment,  and  that 
in  all  suitable  ways  we  will  discountenance  their  use 
throughout  the  community.”  The  sweeping  nature  of 
this  created  much  opposition.  Some  doubted  the  propri- 
ety .of  having  anything  to  do  with  the  exclusion  of  fer- 
mented drinks  ; some  believed  that  wme  and  beer  were 
essential  to  a certain  class ; especially  was  the  latter  useful 
to  our  foreign  population  ; and  others  dreaded  the  agita- 
tion and  conflict  in  various  ways.  About  this  time.  Dr. 
Hitchcock,  of  Amherst  College,  came  out  with  a declara- 
tion that  was  of  no  uncertain  sound.  “ I have  watched,” 
he  says-,  “ the  reformation  of  some  dozens  of  inebriates, 
and  have  been  compelled  to  witness  the  relapse  of  many 
who  had  run  well  for  a time  ; and  I say,  without  any  fear 
of  contradiction,  that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  refor- 
mation of  drunkards  is  the  habitual  use  of  wine,  beer, 
cider,  and  corditds  by  the  respectable  members  of  the  com- 
munity ; as  in  very  many,  I believe  in  most,  cases,  in- 
temperate habits  are  formed,  the  love  of  alcohoUc  drinks 
induced,  by  the  habitual  use  of  these  lighter  beverages. 
I rejoice  to  say,  that  a very  great  majority  of  the  several 
hundreds  of  clergymen  of  my  acquaintance  are  decided 
friends  of  the  temperance  cause,  and,  both  by  preaching 
and  practice,  inculcate  total  abstinence  from  all  that  can 
intoxicate,  as  a beverage.” 

In  this  way,  and  under  such  patronage,  did  the  idea 
gain  strength,  and  obtain  practical  lodgment  in  the 
minds  of  the  people ; and  from  theq^arent  societies  there 
went  forth  innumerable  local  branches  that  contributed 
to  the  vigor  and  development  of  the  whole.  In  1840, 
the  famous  Washingtonian  Society  .came  into  existence, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


241 


having  for  its  prime  movers  a few  from  the  lowest  ranks 
of  intemperance.  These  banded  together,  and  bound 
themselves  to  the  work  of  reform.  They  told  their  de- 
termination to  others,  and  it  went,  like  an  electric  cur- 
rent, into  the  very  heart  of  society.  Everywhere 
drunkards  began  to  think  of  the  possibility  of  doing 
likewise.  Immense  meetings  were  called  and  addressed 
by  these  reclaimed  ones.  We  have  before  spoken  of 
John  Hawkins,  and  of  his  wonderful  restoration.  A 
large  meeting  was  held  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston  — so 
large  that  the  ancient  building  was  not  capable  of  their 
accommodation  ; and  there  he  made  a speech  which  con- 
tained these  words  : “ When  I compare  the  past  with 
the  present,  my  days  of  intemperance  with  my  present 
peace  and  sobriety,  my  past  degradation  with  my  present 
position  in  this  hall  — the  Cradle  of  Liberty  — I am  over- 
whelmed. It  seems  to  be  holy  ground.  I never  ex- 
pected to  see  this  hall.  I had  heard  of  it  in  boyhood. 
It  was  here  that  Otis  and  the  elder  Adams  argued  the 
principles  of  independence ; and  we  how  meet  here  to 
declare  ourselves  free  and  independent ; to  make  a second 
declaration,  not  quite  so  lengthy  as  the  old  one,  but  it 
promises  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Our 
forefathers  pledged  their  lives,  and  fortunes,  and  sacred 
honors.  We,  too,  will  pledge  our  honor,  and  our  life, 
but  our  fortunes  have  gone  for  rum.  Poor  though  we 
drunkards  are,  and  miserable,  even  in  the  gutter,  we  will 
pledge  our  lives  to  maintain  sobriety.”  Numbers  flocked 
to  sign  the  pledge,  and  a City  Society  was  at  once 
formed,  which,  at  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  had  sent  out 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  delegates,  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  towns,  in  five  different  states,  on  errands  of 
love.  Baltimore  was  the  centre  from  whence  these  in- 
fluences radiated.  The  Rev.  John  Marsh,  who  was  for 
thirty  years  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Americam 
15 


242 


rNTBMPBEANCB, 


Temperance  tJnion,  thus  writes  with  reference,  to  this 
period : “ I was  induced  to  go  to  Baltimore  to  attend  the 
first  anniversary  of  the  Washington  Temperance  Society, 
and  there  saw  one  thousand  men  stand  in  a line  as  re- 
formed men,  and  moved  in  procession  with  thousands  more 
about  the  city.  It  was  a most  interesting  spectacle,  as 
their  wives  and  children  stood  on  the  sidewalks,  many  of 
them  weeping  for  joy  as  they  beheld , their  husbands  and 
fathers  marching  onward  in  sobriety  and  moral  dignity! 
In  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  the  work,  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  whiskey  inspections  for  the  city  were  reduced,  in 
six  months,  forty  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-two 
gallons,  — a decrease  of  twenty-five  per  cent.,  — and  that 
great  peace  and  quietness  everywhere  prevailed.  These 
extraordinary  movements  at  Baltimore  and  elsewhere, 
among  our  drunken  population,  filled  all  hearts- with  joy 
at  our  sixth  anniversary,  and  at  the  third  National  Con- 
vention at  Saratoga  Springs.  In  the  annual  report  which 
I presented  in  May,  I condensed,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
wonderful  events  which  had  transpired,  and  which  Avill 
be  contemplated,  when  these  generations  have  passed 
awajq  as  almost  incredible  ; but  never  to  be  surrendered 
as  wild  enthusiasm  and  profitless  hallucination.  Never, 
probably,  was  there  a large  body  of  men,  «f  high  intel- 
gence  and  business  character,  so  melted  into  gratitude, 
joy,  and  love,  as  were  the  attendants  on  that  National 
Convention  at  Saratoga  Springs,  in  the  month  of  August, 
at  the  relation  of  their  experience  by  several  of  the 
reformed,  and  the  relation  of  numerous  most  affecting 
incidents  by  others.  As  cliairman  of  the  business  com- 
mittee, I found  no  difficulty  in  framing  suitable  resolu- 
tions for  the  occasion ; and  where  there  was  such  a 
prevalence  of  love  and  gratitude,  the  presiding  officer 
had  no  occasion  for  force  to  control  the  meeting.  It  was 
a sort  of  millennium  to  thousands  who  had  hoped  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


243 


prayed  tliat  sin  and  sorrow  from  intoxicating  drinks 
might  be  done  away.  “ Never  before,”  said  a. venera- 
ble member,  “ did  five  hundred  and  sixty  men  assemble, 
and -continue  days  as  a deliberative  body,  without  one 
unkind  look  or  action.”  It  is  thought  that,  under  these 
reformatory  influences,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
decidedly  intemperate  men  took  the  pledge,  and  aban- 
doned then’  cups. 

Dr.  Beard,  one  of  our  noted  countrymen,  — a scholar 
and  a philanthropist,  — was  travelling  about  this  time  in 
foreign  countries.  He  had  previously  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  new  crusade,  and  he  carried  it  with  him,  and  was 
instrumental  in  kindling  the  flame  of  feeling  against  in- 
temperance wherever  he  went.  This,  in  conjunction  with 
American  interest,  culminated  in  the  idea  of  a World’s 
Temperance  Cdlivention,  where,  from  all  quarters  of  the 
globe,  the  advocates  of  the  cause  might  gather  together, 
and  by  united  wisdom  and  consultation  speed  on  the 
work  so  gloriously  begun.  It  was  decided  that  London 
should  be  the  theatre  of  action  in  the  important  matter. 
A voyage  to  Europe  was  not  so  common  a thing  as  now, 
and  only  thirty-one  among  all  our  states  were  found 
ready  to  go;  but  these  were  a 'host  in  themselves  — 
strong,  vigorous,  and  ready  for  the  work.  The  single 
state  of  New  York  furnished  eight  pf  these,  and  Massa- 
chusetts the  same  number.  “ In  England  there  were 
high-raised  expectations  from  this  gathering  of  the  friends 
of  reform.”  “ As  a mere  matter  of  curiosity,”  said  the 
Teetotal  Times,  a temperance  organ  of  tha't  place,  “ there 
will  be  much  to  interest.  Who  does  not  wish  to  see  the 
founders  of  great  systems,  the  originators  of  wise  plans, 
the  first  apostles  of  important  truths?  We  pray  that 
the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  charity  may  shed  its  • choicest 
influences  on  the  assembly,  and  'that  its  deliberations 
may  prove  instrumental,  through  the  divine  blessing,  in 
accomplishing  a vast  amount  of  good.” 


244 


IXTEMPEEANCE, 


“ The  convention  sat  five  days,  listening  to  able  papers 
which  were  prepared  for  the  occasion  ; to  discussions  of 
important  resolutions  ; to  reports  of  different  countries, 
and  to  projects  of  reform,  and  greater  extension  of  the 
temperance  cause.  Says  the  indefatigable  secretary  al- 
ready quoted,  “ While  in  England,  I spent  not  a little 
time  and  strength  in  kindling  up  a civil  war.  I saw 
there  the  beer-and-brandy-god  wringing  out  the  life- 
blood from  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  her  sons. 
And  yet  it  was  England’s  greatest  benefactor  ! Every- 
where the  god  was  praised,  as  bringing  vast  revenues  to 
the  crown  ; as  the  life  of  the  army  and  of  the  nav}’- ; as  the 
source  and  spring  of  all  mental  energy  and  social  happi- 
ness. The  licensed  victuallers  of  London  alone  paid  the 
government  eleven  millions  annually.  So  I proposed,  in 
my  speech  at  Exeter  Hall,  that,  as  Loixlon  was  full  of 
statues  to  distinguished  benefactors,  a statue  should  be 
erected  in  Hyde  Park  to  England’s  greatest  friend,  the 
beer-and-brandy-god,  higher  than  any  statue  ever  con- 
ceived ; and,  to  carry  it  out  as  it  should  be,  I would  have, 
on  one  side,  carved  by  the  most  eminent  sculptors,  groups 
of  miserable  drunkards,  raving  in  delirium  tremens,  tear- 
ing the  hair  of  their  wives,  beating  their  children ; and 
on  another  side  I would  have  paupers,  lunatics,  and 
criminals,  in  chains  and  on  the  gallows  through  strong 
drink ; on  another,  parents  pressing  into  the  horrid 
temple,  and  leading  their  children  up  to  their  god,  to 
drink  early  of  his  cup.  But  not  ridicule,  it  was  found, 
could  move  England  in  her  self-complacency.  There 
must  be  war  — exterminating  war.  ‘Down  with  the 
tyrant ! ’ I cried  ; so  we  found  it  in  America ; and  as  I 
said  this,  I was  received  with  shouts  and  applause.  The 
public  press  responded,  and  said,  ‘ These  Americans  have 
put  some  new  thoughts  into  our  minds.  We  confess  we 
are  converts  to  their  views ; and  we  are  greatly  mis- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


245 


taken  in  the  signs  of  the  times,  if  the  late  interviews 
which  the  teetotalers  have  had  with  the  Americans 
have  not  produced  similar  results  in  the  minds  of  others. 
Hence  a crusade  against  the  traffic  has  already  com- 
menced.’ ” 

Thus  were  things  made  to  act  and  react  in  the  great 
work.  Men  clasped  hands  from  across  the  sea,  and 
pledged  themselves  to  labor  for  the  redemption  of  a 
sin-cursed  people.  In  1850  there  arose  an  agitation  of 
the  subject  in  connection  with  life  insurance  companies. 
The  attention  of  the  American  mind  was  enlisted  by  the 
statement  of  an  English  fact,  to  the  effect  that  “ the 
number  of  deaths  in  the  Temperance  Insurance  Company 
were  less  than  half  of  that  insured  in  all  other  companies 
of  the  kingdom ; while  they  suffered  no  losses  from  in- 
temperance.” It  therefore  took  upon  itself  this  form  : 
“ Should  a temperance  man  join  in  a company  with  a 
hard-drinking  man,  or  even  a moderate  drinker,  much 
more  an  intemperate  man,  his  money  might  for  years  be 
going  to'  the  families  of  such,  while  his  family,  through 
his  long  continuance  in  life  from  temperance,  would  have 
no  benefit.”  The  more  the  subject  was  contemplated, 
the  more  were  all  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a 
company  on  the  abstinence  principle.  The  very  existence 
of  such  an  institution,  it  was  thought,  would  be  a pow- 
erful auxiliary  to  the  cause  of  temperance  in  general, 
besides  operating  as  a restraint  upon  the  individuals  im- 
mediately concerned.  Strong  men  indorsed  the  scheme, 
and,  after  much  deliberMion,  it  was  decided  to  make  the 
attempt.  A constitution  was  adopted,  and  a capital  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  fixed  upon,  in  one  thou- 
sand shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  on  which  ten 
dollars  were  to  be  paid  at  the  beginning.  Officers  were 
chosen,  and  all  things  bade  fair  for  a successful  opening  ; 
but,  alas  ! public  sentiment  was  not  sufficiently  advanced 


246 


INTEilPEEANGE, 


to  afford  the  requisite  basis.  One  who  was  interested  in 
it  says,  “ Other  cities  wished  for  the  location  ; moneyed 
men  in  New  York  were  already  stockholders  in  institu- 
tions which  might  be  injured  by  this  ; a spirit  of  rivalry 
and  jealousy  sprang  up  temperance  men  might  be  good 
moral  reformers,  but  no  managers  of  moneyed  institu- 
tions.; and  so,  from  a failure  to  get  the  stock  taken,  it 
died  out,  when,  it  is  even  now  believed,  it  might  have 
become  one  of  our  greatest  insurance  companies,  and 
have  been  of  incalculable  importance  to  the  cause  of 
temperance.” 

The  subject  is  again  revived,  and  efforts  are  being 
made  at  the  present  time  to  secure  the  achievement  of 
this  important  result.  In  addition  to  the  various  tem- 
perance societies  that  have  sprung  up  in  almost  every 
town  and  state  in  the  Union,  there  are  various  orders  of 
equally  wide  dominion,  having  for  their  ostensible  object 
the  suppression  of  the  evils  of  intemperance  in  every 
prevaihng  form.  Some  of-  these  are  secret  organizations, 
and,  consequently,  the  working  of  the  internal  machinery 
is  concealed  from  public  view.  The  tree  is  known  .by 
its  fruits,  is  an  inspired  statement ; and  every  one  has 
this  principle  before  Irim  to  determine  his  judgment  upon 
their  action. 

The  “ Sons  of  Temperance  ” was  one  of  the  first  in- 
stitutions of  the  kind,  and  was  organized  in  1842,  and 
noAv  numbers  thirty-seven  grand  and  about  two  thou- 
sand subordinate  divisions,  located  in  the  different  states 
and  territories,  and  extending  over  the  borders  into"  other 
dominions.  This  order  has  secret  pass-words  for  admit- 
tance to  theii’  meetings,  and  the  members  are  required 
to  make  weekly  payments,  which  constitute  a fund  to- 
wards the  relief  of  their  suffering  brethren,  or  whatever 
the  general  interest  of  the  association  may  demand.  At 
their  twenty-eighth  annual  session,  which  was  held  in 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


247 


Chicago  last  year,  the  committee  on  the  state  of  the  order 
thus  spoke : “In  relation  to  political  action,  its  neces- 
sity and  duty  should  be' impressed . on  every  member 
of  our  order.  We  are  bound  to  vote  temperance  as 
strongly  as  we  are  bound  to  practise  it.  Burt  of  the 
mode  of  doing  it,  every  member  must  be  left  free  to  decide 
for  himself.  It  must  be  wholly  left  to  each  man’s  judg- 
ment and  conscience.  The  state  of  our  Order,  and  its 
success  in  the  future,  depend  not  so  much  on  what  is 
done  within  us,  as  upon  what  is  done  outside  divisions. 
We  shall  be,  and  ought  to  be,  judged  by  our  work.  Many 
things  are  to  be  done ; the  inebriate  is  to  be  reclaimed, 
the  pledge  is  to  be  circulated,  the  press  is  to  be  sustained, 
the  lecture  ■field  to  be  supplied,  the'  young  are  to  be 
trained  to  temperance  in  the  cadet  section  and  the  Sun- 
day,school,  the  ballot  is  to  be  invoked,  prohibitory  legis- 
lation is  to  be  secured  and  sustained,  not  only  in  our 
states  and  provinces,  but  by  national  action,  where  that 
is  requisite ; to  do  all  this,  that  agency  must  be  used 
that  does  its  work  the  best.  The  future  of  our  order  is, 
therefore,  in  our  own  hands,  and  dependent  upon  our- 
selves.” There  are  “Sons,”  and  “Daughters,”  and 
“ Cadets  ” of  Temperance ; the  latter  being  a youthful 
band,  who,  after  the  requisite  training,  are  to  be  received 
to  the  fostering  care  of  the  parent  society.  Their  under- 
lying principle  is  total  abstinence. 

Another  strong  organization  is  the  “ Good  Templars,” 
which  originated  in  1851,  and  now  numbers  forty-five 
grand  and  about  six  thousand  subordinate  lodges.  It 
has  become  a mighty  power. in  the  United  States,  reach- 
ing in  some  way  almost  every  town,  village,  and  county 
in  the  land.  The  total  membership  of  the  last  report 
was  nearly  four  hundred  thousand.  This,  too,  is  a secret 
agency.  An  effort  has  been  made  to  trace  it  to  its  origin, 
but  without  any  satisfactory  result.  A history  of  the 


248 


INTEilPKRANCE, 


order  has  been  issued  by  J.  Newton  Pierce,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, a prominent  official  of  the  ranks,  and  whatever 
we  give  we  state  upon  his  authority.  “No  record,”  he 
says,  “ is  now  to  be  found  in  the  printed  literature  of 
our  country  that  gives  any  account  of  its  origin.”  It  has 
seemed  as  if  tradition  and  memory  were  to  be  the  only 
sources  from  which  we  could  possibly  derive  any  infor- 
mation relative  to  the  inception  of  the  Order  and  the 
first  meeting  held.  “The  following  paragraph,”  he  saj’s, 
“ lately  going  the  rounds  of  the  temperance  papers,  adds 
but  little  certain  knowledge  upon  the  subject ; nor  is  it 
correct  in  point  of  fact,  as  it  is  number  twenty-two  (I) 
on  the  record  and  on  its  charter ; ” but  it  shows  “ the 
early  struggles  to  popularize  a temperance  order  that  has 
since  spread  itself  so  rapidly  and  widely  over  our  fair 
land,  that  its  name  is  in  ever}^  hamlet,  its  light  in  nearly 
every  borough,  and  a Grand  Lodge  in  almost  every  state. 

“ Probably  the  oldest  Good  Templars’  Lodge  in  the 
world  is  the  Senaca  Chief,  in  New  York.  One  after 
another,  it  saw  its  sisters  sink  in  despair  and  die  ; but 
the  old  veteran  Chief  had  no  thought  of  dying,  and  to- 
day, erect  and  vigorous,  it  gives  a kindly  smile  and 
encouraging  word  to  the  great  army  that  has  sprung  up 
around  it.  Its  history  is  one  of  extensive  notice.  The 
members,  each  for  himself  and  herseK,  made  a solemn 
resolve,  and  wrote  it  on  the  innermost  tablet  of  the 
heart,  that,  while  life  should  last,  the  lodge-room  should 
be  lighted  every  week,  the  fire  burning,  and  the  door 
open  to  the  inebriate.  Week  after  week,  a few  devoted 
members  met  in  that  room.  There  was  but  little  busi- 
ness to  be  done,  save  to  put  their  hands  into  their  pock- 
ets, and  pay  the  rent ; but  little  encouragement  in  the 
future.  But  never  wearying,  never  despairing,  that 
little  band  kept  vigilant  guard  over  the  precious  princi- 
ples and  secrets  that  to-day  are  implanted  in  the  breasts 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


249 


of  over  half  a million  Good  Templars.”  This  last  esti- 
mate, it  will  be  seen,  is. a little  higher  than  the  official 
report ; but  there  is  no  question  but  that  the  numerical 
strength  of  the  order  is  rapidly  increasing.  Mr.  Pierce 
thus  relates  his  interview  with  Dr.  R.  C.  Dunham,  of 
Seneca  Falls,  one  of  those  earliest  interested  in  the  pro- 
ject. He  was  seeking  to  trace  out  things  to  their  source, 
and  called  upon  him  far  information.  “We  found  this 
veteran  in  the  temperance  cause  at  home.  He  accom- 
panied us  to  the  hall  of  their  lodge,  and  there,  upon  one 
of  its  walls,  we  saw  the  original  charter  of  ‘ Seneca  Chief 
Lodge,  No.  22,  I.  O.  of  G.  T,’  granted  by  Garry  Cham- 
bers, G.  W.  C.  T.,  January  6,  1853.  And  there  he 
recounted  how,  night  after  night,  they  met  in  that  room, 
during  those  trying  years  from  1855  to  1864,  when  the 
lodges  aU  around  them,  and  all  over  the  state,  were 
going  down.  When  their  Grand  Lodge  ceased  to  exist, 
for  several  years  they  made  up  their  own  pass-word ; for 
they  knew  not  to  whom  to  send  to  obtain  it.  And  yet, 
during  all  that' time,  they  never  had  a thought  of  giving 
up.  That  time-worn  a,nd  yet  beautiful  silh  banner,  the 
early  pride  of  their  lodge,  was  never  allowed  to  trail  in 
the  dust,  or  to  become  a by-word  and  a mockery.  That 
beautiful  figure  upon  it,  extending  charity  to  fallen  man, 
is  yet  bright  'and  vivid,  and,  as  ever,  emblematic  of  the 
motto  above  it,  of  ‘ Faiith,  Hope,  and  Charity.’  The 
name  of  Nathaniel  Curtis,  a reformed  Washingtonian,  is 
associated  with  the  early  history  of  the  society.  ‘ To 
have  conceived  this  order,  as  it  now  exists,’  says  their 
faithful  historian,  ‘ would  have  'required  a mind  of  no 
ordinary  calibre.  It  might  not  be  necessary  to  have  the 
most  scientific  training,  or  the  highest  literary  culture  ; 
it  might  not  be  essential  to  have  the  most  refined  poeti- 
cal taste,  or  mathematical  acumen ; but  it  must  be  a 
mind  pre-eminently  practical,  capable  of  grasping  the 


250 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


realities  of  life,  and  moulding  them  in  siich  form  as  to 
niake  them  practical  for  good.  Our  Order  was  not  like 
a ship  which  starts  not  on  her  voyage  until  every  part  is 
fully  perfected,  and  all  needed  supplies  fully  stored 
away.  It  was  first  started  by  a spirit  of  injured  pride 
and  dissatisfaction,  by  a young  mind  that  had  no  com- 
prehension of  the  magnitude  of  the  work,  nor  of  the 
moral  machinery  necessary  for  its  success.  Not  until  it 
passed  from  his  hands,  and  was  conducted  by  an  older 
and  wiser  head,  did  it  grow.  Then  was  it  found  neces- 
sary to  modify,  amend,  aud  add  to  its  proportions,  to 
make  it  effective  and  self-sustaining.’ 

“ The  ‘ Ritual  ’ was  afterwards  put  into  the  hands  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Bristol,  and,  fhrough  his  influence  and  work- 
ing, the  Order  assumed  a permanency  and  character 
before  unknown.  His  faith  was-  strong  in  the  founda- 
tion of  Good  Templar  principles,  and  that  they  must 
succeed  in  the  overthrow  of  the  rum  power,  and  the 
establishment  of  prohibition.  He  deplored  the  disposi- 
tion of  some  dissatisfied  spirits,  who  will  ever  waste 
time  in  picking  at  the  ritual  and  private  work,  instead 
of  working  for  temperance  with  the  best  means  at  hand. 
‘ It  were  much  better,’  says  he,  ‘ to  put  up  with  the  few 
errors  we  have,  than  to  rush  into  others  we  know  not  of, 
and  work  diligently  and  earnestly  for  the  cause  with  the 
means  placed  in*  our  hands.  Man  is  not  perfect,  and 
never  can  make  so  perfect  a ritual  but  that  some  fine- 
grained literary  casuist  may  pick  at  what  he  may  thiuk 
be  can  prove  to  be  an  error  or  defect  here  or  there.’ 
He  further  says  that  the  ritual  and  the  degrees  ‘ were 
■ designed  to  furnish  temperance  work,  temperance  litera- 
ture, and  temperance  instruction,  for  the  evening,  for 
all  lodges,  uniformly,  everywhere.  It  was  to  be  the 
work  of  the  evening,  and  thus  would  become  the  bind- 
ing chain  that  would  unite  them  in  one  grand  army.’ 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


251 


“ ‘ Templars  of  Honor  and  Temperance  ’ is  an  organi- 
zation that  was  established  in  1845,  and  now  embraces 
twenty  Grand  Temples,  with  subordinates  in  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union.  It  was  intended  as  a higher 
temperance  and  fraternal  organization,  with  advance- 
ment by  degrees,  as  the  members  should  be  proved 
worthy.  From  their  own  ‘ Manual  ’ we  transcribe  words 
which  shall  introduce  the  reader  to  their  inner  sanctum, 
and  disclose  the  pillars  on  which  their  structure  rests. 
The  badge  of  a Templar  ‘ is  not  only  a symbol  of  inno- 
cence and  purity,  but  of  obedience  to  a vow.  Long  years 
ago,  when  truth  and  error  were  in  close  conflict,. and  the 
light  of  Christian  principle  was  dawning  upon  the  dark 
mountains  of  Europe,  a small  but  chosen  band  of  Knights 
Templars  won  the  admiration  of  Christendom  by  their 
valiant  deeds  of  noble  daring.  They  were  bound  to- 
gether as  brothers  by  vows  of  obedience,  puritj'',  and 
charity,  and  consecrated  to  the  defence  of  the  Holy 
Temple  and  the  devout  pilgrims  who  pursued  their  way 
thither,  or  knelt  at  its  sacred  shrine.  Above  them,  in 
the  bloody  conflict,  had  waved  the  banner  of  the  cross ; 
and  when  the  contest  was  won,  and  it  floated  in  triumph 
from  the  walls  and  towers  of  Jerusalem,  they  ceased  not 
their  duties,  but  became  the  protectors  of  the  oppressed 
and  the  scourge  of  the  oppressor.  They  were  few  in 
number,  but  dauntless  in  heart ; for  they  knew  that 
“Truth  is  mighty,  and  must  prevail.”  We  are  Tem- 
plars of  Honor  and  Temperance.  Our  vow  is  one  of 
abstinence  and  fraternity,  our  enemy  is  alcoliol,  our  war 
one  of  extermination.  To  be  successful,  we  must  be  ■ 
united.  Each  one  must  add  his  strength  to  that  of  his 
brethren.  We  must  not  despise  that  which  the  feeblest 
can  do.  Each  snow-flake  .is  a constituent  part  of  that 
mantle  with  which  winter  enshrouds  the  regions  of  the 
poles ; each  rain-drop  quickens  the  mighty  pulse  of  be- 


252 


INTEMPERANCE, 


ing.  You  must  each  labor  for  the  other  and  the  cause 
in  honor  and  in  truth ; you  must  labor  for  humanity. 
Crime  stalks  without,  linked  with  poverty  and  bloated 
with  disease.  Time,  health,  and  money  are  squandered  ; 
bread  is  turned  to  poison,  homes  are  laid  waste,  an^’ 
every  sacred  thing  is  dishonored. 

“ ‘ Fidelity  to  your  vow  will  make  you  a true  and 
loving,  pure  and  faithful,  knight-errant  to  the  human 
race.  Your  Templar’s  vow  is  registered  in  heaven. 
None  but  brave  men  dare  take  such  vows.  The  open 
enemy  and  stealthy  foe  await  you.  You  have  a shield 
and  spear,  and  a God  above.  Stand  forth,  therefore, 
the  champion  of  eternal  principles,  and  you  shall  be- 
come pillars  in  our  beautiful  temple.  You  have  ap- 
proved our  creed,  and  been  admitted  to  our  temple. 
You  know  how  dark  is  the  world,  and  how  miserable 
the  condition  of  those  who  tarry  long  at  the  wine,  and 
mingle  strong  drink.  You  have  seen  the  darkness  dis- 
appear at  the  approach  of  light.  Read  our  emblems. 
The  five-pointed  star  symbols  to  us  the  first  temperance 
movement.  Its  light  struggled  with  the  dark  clpuds  of 
ignorance.  Its  raja's  are  dim,  for  it  symbols  a feeble 
effort.  It  may  have  been  brilliant  to  those  who  first 
beheld  it ; but  its  light  penetrated  not  the  deep  caverns 
where  the  demon  held  his  revels,  and  forged  chains  for 
his  first  victims.  It  served  only  to  show  the  degrada- 
tion to  which  the  drunkard  had  fallen,  and  discover  the 
infamy  he  had  drawn  around  himself  and  those  who 
should  have  looked  to  him  for  counsel,  example,  and 
support.  It  showed  the  road  to  the  drunkard’s  doom ; 
but  it  illumined  no  path  that  would  lead  him  back  to 
the  quiet  bowers  of  domestic  bhss,  and  the  fair  fields  of 
social  confidence.  The  star  of  brighter  rays,,  with  its 
six  points,  reminds  us  of  the  Washingtonians.  Their 
efforts  were  noble,  and  deserve  the  admiration  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


253 


homage  of  every  heart.  Raised  by  the  hand  of  God 
from  the  lowest  deep  of  drunkenness,  they  proved 
that  their  manhood  was  not  gone  ; that  even  the  drunk- 
ard was  a man,  an  immortal  man  ; that  he  had  the  same 
aspirations,  the  same  feelings,  the  same  hopes  and  fears, 
as  other  men,  down  deep  in  his  heart ; that  in  his  soul 
were  the  same  longings  for  happiness  and  purity ; that 
with  him,  in  all  his  degradation,  his  better  nature  at 
times,  would  assert  his  birthright,  tell  him  of  his  immor- 
tality, and  plead  with  angel  eloquence  for  his  redemp- 
tion. He  was  saved.  This  was  a new  era  in  this  god- 
like reform  ; it  was  a stand-point,  brilliant  with  the  light 
of  hope,  upon  which  the  Christian  philanthropist  could 
place  himself,  and,  by  faith,  view  the  redemption  of 
every  inebriate  from  the  thraldom  of  intemperance. 
The  star  enclosed  in  the  typical  triangle  is  the  emblem 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  that  noble  band  of  brothers, 
who  rallied  to  continue  what  the  Washingtonians  had 
begun.  An  organized  band,  it  sought  to  win  the  ine- 
briate from  his  cups  to  a higher  life.  Its  divisions  mul- 
tiplied all  over  the  land ; its  tri-colored  triangle  was 
borne  aloft  in  every  state.  Its  plan  was  simple  ; its  aim 
was  noble.  Its’  heart  desired  to  accomplish  all ; but  its 
arm  was  too  feeble  for  the  task.  Th'fe  temple,  brilliant 
with  the  light  of  its  nine-pointed,  star,  is  a symbol  of  our 
noble  order.  It  brought  the  experience  of  the  past  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  present  to  perfect  its  organization. 
It  is  the  result  of  consolidated  mind,  warmed  by  the  fire 
of  glowing  hearts.  By  its  ritual,  embodying  eternal 
truths ; its  ceremonies,  as  beautiful  and  chaste  as  ma- 
tured imaginations  can  conceive  ; its  signs,  and  grips,  and 
secret  tokens,  — it  lays  hold  of  the  strongest  elements  of 
success  and  perpetuity,  and  gathers  around  its  altar 
hearts  that  never  quail,  and  hands  that  never  falter  in 
its  ■ hfe-long  crusade  against  intemperance  and  wrong. 


254 


INTEIilPEKAi^CE,  ■ 


Gaze  upon  that  altar.  It  has  deep  significance  to  hirh 
who  can  read  the  lessons  it  imparts.  It  rests  on  the 
rock  of  Temperance,  out  of  which  gush  crystal  streams. 
Its  sides  are  emblazoned  with  the  emblems  of  truth, 
love,  purity,  and  fidelity.  On  its  top  jmu  see  the  Holy 
Bible,  the  blest  book  of  God.  From  its  pages  come  our 
principles  and  our  duties.  From  Slount  Sinai  to  the 
Mount  of  Beatitudes,  it  is  resplendent  with  the  truths 
our  Order  inculcates ; and  from  Ohvet  to  the  holy  city 
measured  by  John,  gleams  the  light  -of  hope  to  us. 
Here,  too,  is  the  triangle,  enclosing  the  triple  triangle, 
the  emblem  of  our  Order.  Love,  purity,  and  fidelity 
gleam  upon  its  outer  bars.  The  bars  of  the  inner  tri- 
angle are  bright  with  our  duties  to  God,  to  our  brothers, 
and  ourselves.  Obedience  to  Him  who  hath  created  us 
with  powers  to  enjoy  the  bliss  of  living,  and  with  minds 
that  can  contemplate  the  magnificent  grandeur  of  the 
universe,  and  apprehend  the  melody  of  its  sublime  and 
harmonious  movements ; love  to  Him  whose  daily-  care 
preserves  us  from  death,  and  crowns  us  with  immortality  ; 
worship  to  Him  whose  holiness  is  perfect,  whose  wisdom 
is  infinite,  whose  power  is  omnipotent,  whose  love  is 
boundless,  whose  purity  is  spotless,  and  whose  fidelity 
is  unchanging ; justice  to  our  fellows,  for  it  is  their 
right;  forgiveness,  for  we  do  err;  fraternity,  for  they 
are  our  brethren ; sustenance  to  ourselves,  for  Xature 
demands  fit ; protection,  for  our.  weakness  requues  it ; 
education,  for  our  immortahty  desires  it.  Above  these 
stands  a lamp.  Its  ever-burning  light  is  an  emblem 
of  the  warmth  of  that  divine  love  which  illumines 
our  path  with  the  liglit  of  truth.  The  group  with 
clasped  hands,  open  brows,  and  honest  hearts  rep- 
resent fraternity,  honor,  and  sincerity.  Oiu’  union  is 
complete.  Each  one  is  bound  to  all,  and  all  are  pledged 
to  each  one.  Our  brotherhood  is  perpetual.  Oirr  tern- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  255 

pies  rise  upon  its  solid  basis  in  beautiful  proportions. 
Each  upright  pillar  supports  its  dome.  May  it  remain 
firm  as  the  pillars  of  the  globe,  and  beautiful  as  the  arch 
of  heaven  ! ’ ^ 

“ Order  strikes  at  the  root  of  the  great  upas  tree.  It 
contends  that  the  only  remedy  for  the  evils  of  intemper- 
ance is  prohibition  of  the  manufacture  of  and  traffic  in 
alcoholic  beverages,  sustained  and  upheld  by  correct 
public  sentiment.  To  accomplish  this  consummation  so 
devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  may  require  your  life-long 
assistance.  We  ask  for  none  to  enter  here  who  do  not 
heartily  agree  to  co-operate  with  us  — not  for  a season 
only,  but  for  life ! Death  is  the  only  release  from  the 
vow  jmu  here  must  take.  It  is  no  idle  purpose  in  which 
you  must  engage.  No  empty  titles  or  honors  will  be 
conferred  upon  you.  Devotion  to  temperance,  morality, 
and  truth  must  win  the  meed  of  praise.  Suffering  hu- 
manity demands  your  constant  labor.  Self  must  no 
longer  control  the  will,  and  be  the  leading  purpose  of 
life.  Time,  talent,  and  money  must  be  sacrificed  for  the 
good  of  your  fellow-men.  In  a world  of  perishing  mor- 
tals you  must  stand  forth  as  undaunted  and  firm  as  those 
heroes  who  have  fought  and  conquered  for  the  right ; you 
must  endure,  unmoved  and  unwearied,  the  trial  of  affiic- 
tion  and  persecution,  and  trust  in  God  for  ultimate 
success.” 

The  “ Independent  Order  of  Rechabites  ” w^’e  intro- 
duced into  this  country  from  England  in  1842,  and  spread 
rapidly  through  the  United  States,  numbering  at  one 
time  over  one  hundred  thousand ; but  they  afterwards 
declined,  and  became  nearly  extinct.  A few  years  since 
they  re-organized,  and  they  are  again- in  active  opera- 
tion, and  have  quite  a large  membership.  “ Good  Sa- 
maritans ” are  still  another  order.  They  were  organized 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1847.  It  is  a benefit  society, 


256 


USTTEMPEEANCE, 


and  they  have  their  working  forces  distributed  in  nearly 
every  state  of  the  Union.  It  is  their  object  to  reach  the 
lower  stratum  of  the  drinking  population  of  the  cities, 
to  go  out  into  the  narrow  lanes  and  by-ways,  and  take 
up  the  wounded  and  fallen  Avhen  others  have  passed^ 
them  by.  The  true  Samaritan  spirit  is  shown  forth  in 
this  enterprise,  and  much  good  has  been  accomplished. 

From  these  centres  there  are  yet  other  radiating  points 
that  unite  in  the  one  grand  concentration  of  clearing  the 
world  from  the  vile  impurities  of  intemperance.  Chil- 
dren have  their  “ Cold  Water  Armies,”  and  their  “Bands 
of  Hope,”  and  it  would  seem  that  the  world’s  regenera- 
tion in  this  matter  ought  to  be  close  at  hand,  With  all 
these  apphances  brought  to  bear  upon  the  people,  their 
conversion  to  the  principles  and  practice  of  temperance 
should  be  sure  and  decided ; and  still  the  streams  of 
alcohol  are  permitted  to  flow,  and  men  fill  then-  glasses 
and  drink  until  they  are  no  longer  manly,  and  keep 
falling  when  they  ought  to  rise  and  assert  the  dignity  of 
their  God-given  nature.’  Are  all  these  noble,  philan- 
thropic efforts,  then,  to  be  called  a failure  ? Have  all 
these  good  men  preached  and  labored  in  vain  — this 
host  of  worthies  wrought  to  no  purpose  ? At  the  fif- 
teenth anniversary  gf  the  American  Temperance  Socie- 
ty, in  1851,  Dr.  Cleveland,  speaking  of  progress,  said,  — 

“ When  two  trains  meet,  travelling  at  the  rate  of 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  we  seem  to  be  going  fifty 
when  we  are  going  but  twenty-five.  The  croakers  say 
we  are  now  going  backwards.  The  question  is,  whether 
the  croakers  are  right,  who  say  we  have  done  nothing, 
or  the  temperance  workers,  who  think  we  have  done 
much  for  which  to  be  thankful.  I think  we  have  mowed 
a pretty  handsome  swath.  I am  willing  to  admit,  there 
is  as  much  rum  drunk  now  as  there  was  twenty-five  years 
ago ; yet  it  must  be  remembered,  that  twenty-five  years 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


257 


ago  'there  were  but  twelve  millions  of  people  in  the 
land,  whereas  now  there  are  twenty-five.  If  we  have 
reformed  no  one,  we  may  have  kept  our  twelve  millions 
from,  falling  into  the  sin  and  ruin  of  drunkenness.”  Says 
another,  “ To  speak  positively,  a mighty  work  has  been 
accomplished,  and  few  are  the  men  who  will  not  ac- 
knowledge it.  If  we  had  only  gained  the  liberty  of 
drinking  or  not  drinking,  as  we  pleased ; of  having  or 
not  having  the  drink  on  our  tables,  as  we  pleased ; of 
giving  workmen  drink  or  not  giving,  as  we  pleased,  — we 
should  have  accomplished  a great  work.  But  we  have 
gained  a vast  and.  most  important  knowledge  of  the 
subject  of  Intemperance  ; the  nature,  cause,  and  cure  of 
drunkenness ; the  nature  of  the  alcoholic  poisons,  and 
subject  of  adulteration.  We  have  firmly  established  the 
great  principles  of  temperance ; we  have  driven  liquor 
from  our  farms,  our  manufactories,  our  firesides,  our 
sideboards,  our  shipping,  our  navy ; from  our  Christian 
and  ministerial  families,  our  pulpits  and  Christian 
churches,  and  all  missionary  stations,  and  from  among 
those  who  would  evangelize  the  world.  Here,  under 
God,  are  the  triumphs  of  temperance.” 

It  would  be  cheering  to  record  far  grander  results,  but 
if  all  that  has  been  done  is  only  in  the  line  of  prepara- 
tion, who  does  not  see  that  victory  is  more  certain  in 
the  coming  battle,  because  of  the  vast  forces  in  training, 
and  the  burnishing  of  these  mighty  weapons  ? The  ma- 
chinery of  the  universe  is  silent  and  unseen  at  many  points 
of  its  working,  and  sometimes  tlrere  are  apparent  dis-har- 
mony  and  confusion,  that  fill  the  mind  of  short-sighted 
mortals  with  dismay  and  alarm,  lest  the  world  get  out  of 
tune  altogether,  and  there  be  no  more  good  in  it ; but 
time  always  straightens  out  the  seeming  crookedness, 
and  men  and  nature  smile  again.  So  it  will  doubtless  be 
with  this  moral  aspect.  It  may  be  dark  for  a time,  but 
it  shall  have  a glorious  triumph  in  the  end. 

16. 


258 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Adulteeation  of  Liquoes. 

FASHION  AND  PURITY. — THE  COLORADO  SALOON  KEEPER. — FOURCROT, 
THE  FRENCH  CHEMIST.  — PROFESSOR  LEE’S  STATEMENT,  — ASSER- 
TION OF  DR.  STORY.  — STRYCHNINE.  — STRAMONIUM. — THE  DEAD 
FISHERMEN.  — THE  IRISH  TOPERS.  — COCCULUS.  — CONFISCATION  AT 
BOSTON. — ANALYTICAL  OBSERVATIONS  OF  DR.  COX.  — PURCHASE  OF 
NEW  YORK  PHYSICIANS,  — “ GUIDE**  RECEIPTS.  — THE  DRUGGIST’S 
BRANDY.  — RUai.  — GIN,  — BEER. 

When  Fashion  popularized  the  drinking  of  spirituous 
liquors,  in  the  times  of  our  forefathers,  it  was  compara- 
tively a pure  beverage  — pure  of  its  kind.  Drunken- 
ness may  not  have  had  that  peculiarly  aggravating  char- 
acter that  it  bears  at  the  present  day.  It  is  true  that 
alcohol,  in  its  best  condition,  is  nothing  less  than  a’ poison 
to  the  human  system  ; and  we  have  seen  how  deleterioirs 
are  its  influences  through  its  physiological  action  upon 
mind  and  body ; but  there  are  poisons  more  rapid  and 
destructive  than  even  this,  and  the  avariciousness  of 
men  has  freel}'^  mingled  them  in  the  cup  which  they  have 
given  their  brother  man  to  taste.  As  if  it  were  not 
enough  that  it  would  bring  misery  and  death  of  itself, 
they  have  gone  to  work  to  intensify  it,  so  as  to  make  the 
effect  more  disastrous  and  the  result  more  sure.  In  what 
other  department  of  trade  would  corresponding  iniquity 
be  tolerated?  It  may  be  there  are  scales  upon  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  and  they  see  not,  neither  do  they  know,  the 
tricks  and  frauds  that  are  practised  in  secret  places,  that 
shams  may  take  the  place  of  realities.  Villany  hkes 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


269 


concealment,  and  so  it  works  in  by-places,  down,  back, 
and  away,  where  honesty  and  integrity  would  not  think 
of  going;  and  there,  with  barred  doors  and  guarded 
entrances,  with  hushed  voices  and  stealthy  tread,  they 
carry  on  their  nefarious  doings.  In  some  way  or  other 
sin  will  always  be  found  out,  and  so  it  has  come  to  be 
known  what  these  deliberate  schemes  for  man-poisoning 
are,  and  how  and  by  whom  they  are  accomplished.  A 
man  may  be  driven  in  his  desperation  to  -counterfeit 
money,  that  he  may  be  relieved  of  his  distress  and  per- 
plexity, and  close  confinement  and  hard  labor  in  prison 
are  considered  none  too  good  for  him.  Public  opinion 
frowns,  and  law  executes  its  stern  threats ; but  he  may 
follow  a more  infamous  trade,  and  counterfeit  that  which 
has  to  do  with  the  most  precious  of  all  human  interests, 
and  still  he  goes  On,  while  men  wonder  and  the  law  is 
dumb.  In  the  first  case,  the  man  may  have  been  under 
the  power  of  stern  necessity,  that  goaded  him  on  to  the 
performance  of  an  action  that  his  be^-ter  nature  revolted 
against but  in  the  latter,  it  is  more  often  a calculating 
policy  that  would  make  the  piles  of  wealth  accumulate 
higher  and  faster.  It  is  an  effort  to  obtain  money  without 
returning  an.  equivalent ; to  grow  rich  without  having 
it  cost  little  or  nothing.  They  know  that  men  will  have 
a drink  that  has  some  stimulating  quality  ; that  it  is  this 
element  which  the  drinking  man  demands,  and  brings 
the  effect  he  seeks,  and  therefore  anything  whatever 
that  will  tend  to  produce  the  requisite  condition  is  used. 
If  the  temporary  excitement  is  gained,  no  matter  how  it 
is  done,  or  what  the  after  consequences,  he  glories  iii  the 
success  of  his  mixture. 

A Colorado  saloon  keeper  said  of  a rough  crowd,  “ I 
couldn’t  get  their  whiskey  strong  enough  to  suit  them  ; 
so,  after  trying  every  way,  I at  last  made  a mixture  of 
oak  poison  and  butternut.  I called  it  the  .‘  sheep-herder’s 


260 


IN^EIMPEEANCE, 


delight,’  and  it  became  a popular  drink.  The  first  Pike 
to  whom  1 gave  it  became  frantic  with  delight ; the  next 
took  two  drinks,  and  turned  a double  somerset  in  front 
of  the  house  ; and  the  third  was  a peddler,  who,  after  con- 
siderable indulgence,  stole  his  own  pack  and  hid  it  in 
the  woods.”  In  the  low  phraseology  of  a certain  class, 
anything  to  get  the  “ drunk.” 

It  is  the  intoxicating  constituent  in  strong  drinks  that 
is  specially  objectionable  on  the  ground  of  temperance, 
and  this  is  extracted  from  substances  through  evapora- 
tion and  condensation ; it  is  a product  of  fermentation. 
The  great  French  chemist,  Fourcroy,  says,  “ The  forma- 
tion of  alcohol  takes  place  at  the  expense  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  a vegetable  principle  ; thus  spirituous  fermentation' 
is  a commencement  of  the  destruction  of  principles 
formed  by  vegetation.  The  acid,  or  acetous  fermenta- 
tion is  the  second  natural  movement  which  contributes 
to  reduce  vegetable  compounds  to  more  simple  states  of 
composition.  Wine,  in  firming  sour,  absorbs  air ; so 
that  a certain  portion  of  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere 
appears  to  be  necessary  to  the  formation  of  the  acetous 
acid.  Finally,  after  vegetable  liquors,  or  their  solid  parts 
moistened,  have  passed  to  the  acid  state.,  their  decompo- 
sition continuing,  under  favorable  circumstances  (viz., 
&,  warm  temperature,  exposure  to  the  air,  and  the  con- 
tact of  water),  leads  them  into  putrefaction,  which  ter- 
minates in  volatilizing  most  of  the  principles  under  the 
form  of  gas.  Water,  carbonic  acid,  carbonated,  and  even 
sulphurated  hydrogen  gas,  volatile  oil  in  vapor,  and  some- 
times even  azotic  gas  and  ammonia,  are  evolved ; and 
after  this  there  remains  nothing  but  a brown  or  black 
residuum',  known  by  the  name  of  mould.  Though  all  the 
circumstances  of  putrefaction  are  not'  yet  described,  or 
even  known,  we  have  discovered  that  the}’-  are  confined 
to  the  conversion  of  complex  substances  into  substances 


ITS  ASPECT  Aim  ITS  REMEDY. 


261 


less  ^compound ; that  Nature  restores  to  new  combina- 
tions the  materials  which  she  had  but  lent,  as  it  were, 
to  vegetables  and  animals ; and  that  she  thus  accom- 
plishes the  perpetual  circle  of  compositions  and  decom- 
positions, which  attests  her  power  and  demonstrates  her 
fecundity,  while  it  announces  equal  grandeur  and  sim- 
plicity in  the  course  of  her  operations.” 

Thus,  b}'^  a process  through  which  man  has  made  the 
fruits  and  grains  of  the  earth  to  pass,  has  that  been,  dis- 
tilled which  has  deepened  the  curse  upon  man  more  than 
any  one  thing  in  the  world.  “ Nature  never  forms  spir- 
ituous liquors ; she  rots  the  grape  upon  the  branch,  but 
it  is  art  which  converts  the  juice  into  (alcoholic)  wine.” 
Chemical  combinations,  in  her  hands,  are  safe  and'  health- 
ful. Man  alone  perverts,  and  wrests  from  the  natural 
conditions  the  distillation  of  death.  The  proportion  is 
seen  in  the  declared  fact  that  “ there  is  more  food  in 
one  bushel  of  barley  than  there  is  in  twelve  thousand 
gallons  of  the  best  beer.”  ^ 

But,  notwithstanding  all  that  can  be  said  of  these 
things,  — that  there  is  no  nutrition,  nothing  whatever 
that  is  desirable,  in  these  liquid  combinations,  — men 
will  go  on  imbibing  them  extravagantly;  and  as  they 
will  indulge,  men  will  minister  to  their  indulgence  ; and 
if  the  most  natural  materials  are  not  sufficient,  they  will 
manufacture  others,  and  it  is  all  right  if  the  people  are 
deceived  and  satisfied.  A thoughtful  person  will  very 
readily  see  there  are  not  fruits  and  grains  enough  to 
meet  the  vast  demand  for  spirits  in  our  country,  if  they 
were  all  poured  into  the  distilling  granaries  for  that  pur- 
pose. It  is  computed  there  are  not  less  than  three  hun- 
dred firms  engaged  in  the  debasing  traffic  of  poison- 
mixing, which  they  palm  off  for  the  choicest  brands  of 
the  genuine  article.  From  four  of  these  manufactories, 
nearly  two  million  gallons  are  sent  out  annually  on  their 


262  ENTEMPEEANCE, 

death-dealing  mission,  having  this  only  r^ommendation 
— it  enriches  promptlj^,  and  kills  swiftly. 

. Professor  Lee,  of  New  York,  says,  — 

“ A cheap  Madeira  is  made  here  by  extracting  the  oils, 
from  common  whiskey,  and  by  passing  it  through  car- 
bon. There  are  immense  establishments  in  this  city 
where  the  whiskey  is  thus  turned  into  wine-.  In  some 
of  those  devoted  to  this  branch  of  business,  the  whiskey 
is  rolled  in  in  the  evening,  but  the  wine  goes  out  in  the 
broad  daylight,  ready  to  defy  the  closest  inspection.  A 
grocer,  after  he  had  abandoned  the  nefarious  trafSc,  as- 
sured me  that  he  had  often  purchased  whiskey  one  day 
of  a country  merchant,  and  before  he  had  left  town  the 
same  whiskey  was  sent  back  to  him  turned  into  wine,  at 
a profit  of  from  four  hundred  to  five  hundred  per 
cent.” 

It  becomes  a matter  of  interest,  to  those  who  are  thus 
imposed  upon,  to  know  the  extent  of  the  imposition,  and 
its  peculiar  characteristics  — to  know  something  of  the 
ingredients  of  that' with  which  they  grace  their  tables, 
and  treat  their  friends.  What,  then,  are  the  materials 
so  widely  used  in  the  adulteration  of  liquors  ? With 
Dr.  Story  as  authority,  we  say,  — 

“ There  is  one  set  of  ingredients  used  to  adulterate 
the  alcohol  itself,  another  set  used  to  give  it  the  color, 
and  others  to  give  age  and  bead,  and  all  to  deceive.  If 
you  wanted,”  he  continues,  “to  convert  one  gallon  of 
new  corn  whiskey  into  four  gallons  of  old  peach  brandy, 
you  would  use  one  set  of  ingredients ; into  old  Jamaica 
rum,  another  set ; into  best  Holland  gin,  another  set ; 
and  if  you  wanted  to  convert  it  into  ten  gallons  of  old 
Port  wine,  you  would  use  still  another  set  of  ingredients, 
though. the  one  used  in  the  place  of  alcohol  might  be  the 
same  in  all  cases.  The  coloring  and  flavoring  would  be 
different,  though  the  intoxicating  ingredient  would  be 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY, 


263 


the  same.  Among  the  things  used,  strychnine  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent.  It  is  said  that  one  drug  store  in 
London  sold  more  of  this  article  to  one  liquor  manufac- 
^turing  establishment  last  year  than  was  required  by  all 
the  medical  men  in  their  profession.  It  is  so  very  strong 
that  it  takes  but  little,  added  to  a bushel  of  corn,  to 
make  an  extra  gallon  of  whiskey,  and  therefore  it  is  ex- 
tensively used.  Three  cents’  worth  of  this  commodity, 
with  a gallon  of  water,  adds  to  the  distiller’s  fortune 
with  great  rapidity.  In  1857,  the  legislature  of  Ohio 
passed  a law  forbidding  the  use  of  this  and  other  poisons, 
under  a penalty  of  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  at 
hard  labor,  not  more  than  five  or  less  than  one  year  ; 
but  men  are  shrewd  in  their  attempts  to  evade  the  law, 
and  the  work  went  on  secretly,  as  it  had  done  before. 
The  love  of  gain  is  stronger  than  all  other  considera- 
tions, and  therefore  the  conclusion  of  men  is,  We  will 
try  it  a little  longer  and  see.” 

Stramonium  is  another  popular  po’-^on.  It  is  extracted 
from  a poisonous  weed,  sometimes '■called  jimson-weed, 
and  is  very  common  in  country  places,  and,  on  account 
of  its  cheapness,  is  extensively  used  by  those  who  manu- 
facture and  retail  what  they  call  spirits.  Such  a one 
buys  whiskey,  one  fourth  of  which  is  already  composed 
of  strychnine,  and  proceeds  to  form  a new  composition 
by  adding  this  latter  ingredient ; but,  as  this  is  likely  to 
create  unpleasant  sensations  in  the  stomach,  he  adds  a 
little  opium  to  counteract  the  effect,  and  a little  potash 
to  modify  the  taste  and  smell,  all  of  which  can  he  done 
at  the  cost  of  a few  cents.  It  is  said,  “ Two  fishermen, 
in  a little  town  on  the  Ohio  River,  bought  a pint  of 
whiskey,  and  went  up  the  river  to  fish.  That  afternoon 
they  were  both  found,  on  the  hank  of  the  river,  dead. 
The  bottle  was  empty.  When  the  retailer  heard  they 
were  dead,  he  immediately  emptied  that  keg  of  whiskey 


264 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


into  the  ditch.  As  the  proof  was  destroyed,  of  course 
he  was  not  found  guilty.  In  all  probability  he,  through 
mistake,  put  more  stramonium  into  the  strychnine  whis- 
key than  he  intended,  or  perhaps  forgot  to  add  the 
requisite  amount  of  water.  The  fishermen  are  dead, 
and  who  is  to  blame  ? ” After  having  passed  through 
these  two  processes,  a third  retailer  takes  it,  and  by  the 
addition  of  another  powerful  poison  — belladonna  — he 
increases  the  quantity  of  liquid  that  is  to  enrich  him  by 
a large  percentage,  and  injure  his  customers  correspond- 
ingly. 

Every  one  knows  of  the  deadly  nightshade,  and  how 
it  grows  in  great  profusion  in  shady  places,  around  the 
corners  of  fences,  and  by  the  side  of  walls,  with  berries 
of  purplish  hue  and  s^yeetish  taste,  and  children  are 
warned  against  touching  it  in.  any  way,  as  leaf,  stem, 
berries,  root,  and  all  are  full  of  poison.  It  is  this  same 
thing  that  enters  into  the  retailer’s  compound.  “About 
two  cents’  worth  will  make  a gallon  of  liquor,  which 
sells  in  the  market,  at  wholesale,  for  a dollar  and  a 
half.”  One  gallon  of  whiskey,  by  the  time  it  has  passed 
through  this  third  stage,  becomes  four  times  as  much, 
yielding  a retail  profit  of  six  or  seven  dollars  to  the  gal- 
lon, which  of  course  is  a brilliant  temptation. 

Dr.  Cox,  a distinguished  chemist  in  Ohio,  was  directed 
by  the  legislature  of  that  state  to  analyze  and  examine 
the  liquors  of  their  market.  For  two  years  and  more, 
he  gave  his  attention  to  the  matter  ; but  ojiposing  influ- 
ences were  made  to  bear  so  strongly  that  his  report  was 
never  made  public.  But  many  facts  have  come  to  light 
through  his  personal  statements.  As  the  result  of  liis 
inspections,  he  declares  that  “ over  ninety  per  cent.”  of 
all  that  he  examined  — and  his  examinations  were  quite 
extensive  — “ were  adulterated  with  the  most  pernicious 
and  poisonous  ingredients.  I called  -at  a grocery  store 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


265 


one  day,”  he  says,  “ where  liquor  was  being  sold.  A 
couple  of  Irishmen  came  in  while  I was  there,  and  called 
for  some  whiskey.  The  first  one  drank,  and  the  moment 
he  drank  the  tears  flowed  freely,  while  he,  at  the  same 
time,  caught . his  breath,  like  one  suffocating  or  stran- 
gling. When  he  could  speak,  he  said  to  his  companion, 

‘ Och,  Michael,  by  the  powers,  but  this  is  warming  to 
the  stomach,  sure  ! ^ Michael  drank,  and  went  through 
like  contortions,  with  the  remark,  ‘ Troth,  an’  wouldn’t 
it  be  foil!  on  a cowld  frosty  mornin’,  Timothy  ? ’ After 
they’ had  drank,  I asked  the  proprietor  to  pour  me  out  a 
little  in  a tumbler.  I went  to  my  office,  got  my  instru- 
ments, and  examined  it.  I found  it  seventeen  per  cent, 
alcoholic  spirits,  when  it  should  have  been  fifty  ; and 
the  difference  in  percentage  was  made  up  by  sulphuric 
acid,  red  pepper,  pellitory,  caustic  potash,  brucine,  and 
one  of  the  salts  of  nux  vomica.  One  pint  of  such  liquor, 
at  one  time,  would  kill  the  strongest  man.  I had  the 
manufacturer  indicted  ; bufe  by  such  villany  he  had  be- 
come wealthy,  and  I never  have,  owing  to  some  defect  in 
the  law,  been  able  to  bring  that  case  to  a final  issue.” 

Cocculus  is  another  thing  that  is  used,  more  especially 
in  beer,  as  a substitute  for  malt  or  hops.  It  is  an  East 
Indian  plant,  and  in  its  native  country  the  people  use  it 
as  a stupefying  potion,  throwing  it  into  the  water  when 
they  would  catch  fish,  so  as  to  make  them  their  easy 
prey.  When  given  to  dogs,  it  has  been  known  to  pro- 
duce convulsions  and  deatli,  in  the  quantity  of  five  or 
ten  grains.  It  is  used  extensively  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, although  at  the  former  place  it  is  forbidden  by  law, 
under  heavy  penalties.  A kind  of  tobacco,  knoAvn  as 
“ dog-leg,”  is  also  used  in  large  quantities.  This  is  very  ~ 
cheap,  and  consequently  it  is  used  very  freely.  Its  ten- 
dency is  to  produce  nausea,  and  hence  this  condition  is 
neutralized  by  adding  a little  opium  or  stramonium. 


266 


rNTEMPKRANCK, 


During  the  war,  one  of  our  regiments  took  possession 
of  a whiskey  saloon.  Several  of  the  soldiers  became 
drunk  over  one  cask  ; and  when  it  was  drained,  one  of 
their  number  smashed  the  head  of  it,  and  found  about 
fifteen  or  twenty  pounds  of  this  kind  of  tobacco,  well 
soaked,  that  looked  as  if  it  might  have  been  there  a 
twelvemonth  or  more.  These  two  last  ingredients  are 
more  extensively  used  in  the  adulteration  of  colored 
liquors.  In  other  cases,  it  is  subject  to  chemical  decom- 
position, so  as  to  extract  the  coloring  matter,  the  same 
as  strychnine. 

There  recently  appeared  in  the  Boston  Journal  the 
following  account  of  the  quality  of  the  liquors  seized 
and  confiscated,  as  offered  for  sale  in  violation  of  law  : — 

“ Since  June,  1872,  whenever  the  strong  arm  of  the 
law  has  descended  uj^on  the  stocks  of  dealers  in  liquors 
in  this  commonwealth,  the  caj^tured  material  has  been 
first  carried  to  the  nearest  storehouse  of  the  state  police, 
where  it  has  remained  for  several  weeks,  until  it  is  either 
returned  to  the  owners  or  confiscated  by  order  of  the 
courts.  If  confiscated,  it  is  then  delivered  to  the  state 
commissioner,  who  has  all  the  liquors  from  a great  many 
seizures  assembled  together  for  examination  and  analj’- 
sis,  in  Boston,  preparatory  to  disposing  of  them.  These 
collections  of  trash  are  quite  remarkable,  representing, 
as  they  do,  the  alcoholic  beverages  of  all  kinds,  taken 
just  as  they  are  sold  in  every  part  of  the  state.  Pack- 
ages of  almost  every  conceivable  kind  may  be  seen 
among  them,  as  the  seizures  include  hogsheads,  barrels, 
kegs,  demijohns,  jugs,  bottles,  decanters,  tin  cans,  tubs, 
measures  and  pails  of  wood  and  metal,  kitchen  utensils, 
pitchers,  crockery  vessels,  &c.,  in  great  numbers.  And 
the  marks  on  these  packages  are  also  various  and  ingen- 
ious. Whiskey  is  sometimes  labelled  as  “ Extract  of 
Lemon,”  “Vanilla  Syrup,”  or  “Tincture  of  Energy,” 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


267 


and  it  may  t)e  designated  by  a single  letter  or  number. 
Occasionally,  some  proprietor  comes  out  boldly,  and 
marks  a favorite  drink  with  such  refreshing  naanes  as 
“ Green  Mountain  Tonic,”  or  “ Sandy’s  very  best.” 

The  liquors  themselves  are  generally  very  bad.  They 
are  most  commonly  extended  with  “French  spirit,”  wa- 
ter, sweetening  and  coloring  matters ; but  a very  consider- 
able proportion  of  them  is  made  from  spirits  flavored  with 
dangerous  “ oils  ” and  extracts,  in  imitation  of  brandy 
and  other  liquors.  Many  curious  cases  might  be  cited 
in  confirmation  of  this ; but  the  occasional  seizures,  by 
the  ofiicers,  of  the  pure  “ oils”  in  two-quart  jugs,  with 
written  and  printed  directions  for  making  them  into 
brandy,  Avhiskey,  gin,  and  so  forth,  or  of  the  mixtures  in 
process  of  manufacture,  are  certainly  an  unmistakable  in- 
dication of  the  increasing  activity  in  this  miserable 
business  of  making  liquors  for  immediate  use.  The  fol- 
lowing extracts  from  a circular  recently  taken,  with  some 
of  the  “ oils,”  from  a small  dealer  in  one  of  the  neigh- 
boring towns,  are  copied  by  way  of^  illustration.  This 
circular  is  headed  “Hints  to  Liquor  Dealers;”  and, 
among  other  items,  we  find  that  “ full'  instructions  ac- 
company each  package;”  so  you  can  make  the  liquors 
in  a few  minutes. 


French  brandy  oil,  sufficient  to  make  forty  gal- 
lons brandy, $5  00 

Otard  brandy  oil,  very  fine^  sufficient  to  make 

twenty  gallons  brandy,  5 00 

Bourbon  whiskey  oil,  sufficient  to  make  forty  gal- 
lons Bourbon  whiskey, 5 00 

Holland  gin  oil,  sufficient  to  make  forty  gallons 

Holland  gin,  5 00 

Goods  sent,  securely  packed,  free  from  obse'rvation. 

A sample  case,  containing  three  oils  of  above  list, 
a copy  of  “ Secrets  Liquor  Trade  and  Bar  Tend- 
er’s Guide,”  sent  for  . . 12  00 


268 


INTEMPERANCE, 


Another  good  illustration  is  found  in  a small  card 
of  directions,  printed  in  French.  This  is  entirely  a 
different  thing  from  the  circular  quoted  above,  and  it  is 
headed  “ Extract  Fine  Liqueur  de  Paris,  manufactur<?e 

par  la  Soci^td  Philanthropique  Francaise,  W , Mass.” 

Then  follow  directions  for  making  an  excellent  family 
beverage,  that  will  not  cost  more  than  one  dollar  per 
gallon,  and  which  surpasses  any  other  liquor,  costing  at 
least  four  dollars  a gallon,  in  purity  and  flavor.  Some  of 
the  confiscated  liquors  are  not  very  skilfully  compounded, 
and  the  common  spices  of  the  kitchen,  with  raisins,  fruits, 
onions,  and  tobacco,  are  found  in  them.  Occasionally,  a 
whole  barrel  of  unmixed  “French  spirit”  (alcohol  and 
water,  without  flavor),  is  seized  from  some  retail  dealer, 
who  never  has  occasion  to  sell  anjdhing  of  this  kind  un- 
flavored. Pure  brandies  and  wines  are  very  seldom 
seized,  and  they  are  generally  so  much  changed  that  the 
original  wholesale  dealers  would  not  recognize  them. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  greatest  profit  arises  from  the 
adulteration  of  wine,  and  that  probably  the  greatest 
amount  of  injury  is  done  in  this  connection.  “ Give  me 
six  hours’  notice’  of  what  wines  you  like,”  said  a French 
merchant,  “ and  you  shall  have  it  out  of  those  two  bar- 
rels.” “ To  brighten,  color,  clear,  and  make  astringent 
wines,  alum,  Brazil  wood,  gj'psum,  oak  sawdust,  husks 
of  filbert,  and  lead  are  emplo3md  ; and  for  the  purpose  of 
communicating  particular  flavor  to  insipid  wines,  bitter 
almond,  cherry,  laurel  water.  In  the  Isle  of  Shepp}^ 
many  persons  are  employed  in  picking  up  cojyperas  stones 
from  the  sea-beach,  wdiich,  being  taken  to  a raanufactoiy, 
copperas  is  extracted,  and  then  shipped  to  Oporto,  to  be 
sold  to  the  wine-dresser  and  wine  merchant,  and  b^'them 
is  mixed  with  the  port  wine  to  give  it  a peculiar  astrin- 
gent quality.  One  writer,  who  knew  whereof  he  af- 
firmed, said,  “ We  know  very  well  that  the  Spaniard 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


269 


would  not  touch  the  wine  he  manufactures  for  us,  and 
the  Portuguese  would  spit  out  our  port  like  so  much 
poison.”  Dr.  Cox,  the  chemist  already ‘quoted,  makes 
this  statement  as  more  or  less  true  of  all  the  port  wine 
that  came  under  his  analytical  observation  during  the 
special  period  his  attention  was  given  to  the  subject: 
“ As  a basis,  either  water,  cider,  vinegar,  or  a mixture 
of  water  and  sulphuric  acid,  with  the  juice  of  elder- 
berries, privet  berries,  beet-root  juice,  and  logwood,  with 
alum,  technically  called  sulphate  of  alumina,  and  potassa, 
sugar  to  cover  the  pernicious  mixture,  and  sometimes  I 
found  one  or  two  per  cent,  of  Jamaica  rum,  or  neutral 
spirits,  added.” 

Of  sherry,  madeira,  muscadel,  &c.,  he  says  they  are 
all,  or  at  least  all  that  he  has  inspected,  either -mixed,  or 
have,  as  a basis,  water,  cider,  wort  made  of  pale  malt,  of 
a mixture  of  sulphuric  acid  and  water  to  the  acidity  of 
weak  vinegar,  with  brown  sugar,  honey,  orris-root,  and 
neutral  spirits  to  give  it  alcoholic  peroentage  ; and  this, 
he  adds,  was  the  character  of  two  samples  of  wine  — port 
and  sherry  — that  he  inspected,  v^hich  were  sent  from  a 
store,  the  proprietors  of  which  are  honorable  and  high- 
minded  gentlemen,  who  had  paid  a high  price  for  their 
liquors,  got  them  out  of  a custom-house  in  an  Eastern 
city,  with  an  assurance  that  they  were  genuine  and  im- 
ported, and  yet  there  was  not  one  drop  or  symptona  of 
wine  in  either  of  them,  the  one  haying  its  warming, 
stimulating  influence  from  sulphuric  acid,  and  one  per 
cent.  Jamaica  rum  ; and  the  sherry  having  six  per  cent, 
alcoholic  spiritg  imparted  to.  it  by  neutral  spirits,  with 
sulphuric  acid,  bitter  almonds,  brown  sugar,  and  honey. 
These  mixtures  are  all  flavored  with  various  oils,  mixed 
to  suit  the  flavors  of  the  different  wines.  One  of  these  is 
a poison  so  intense  in  its  nature,  that  one  fourth  of  a 
drop  has  been  known  to  kill  a rabbit,  and  one  drop  a dog. 


270 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


A New  York  physician  bought  a bottle  of  what  was 
called  genuine  champagne',  of  the  importers,  and  on  sub- 
jecting it  to  chemical  tests,  it  was  found  to  contain  a 
quarter  of  an  ounce  of  sugar  of  lead.  On  the  arrival  of 
a cargo  of  wines  in  New  York,  it  is  at  once  purchased, 
and  perhaps  poured  •into  vats,  where  these  various  sub- 
stances are  mingled  with  it,  and  it  is  again  sent  forth 
not  only  doubled  and  quadrupled  in  quantity,  but  its 
whole  character  completely  changed.  Europe  and  our 
own  country  are  alike  engaged  in  the  same  baneful  traf- 
fic. The  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal  gives  the  following 
incident : “ The  family  of  a baronet  in  Roxburgshire, 
together  with  several  visitors,  were  taken  seriously  ill 
during  dinner,  or  soon  after  it..  The  symptoms  in  all 
were  sickness,  vomiting,  and  diarrhoea.  In  the  course  of 
the  night  all  were  affected  with  a sense  of  heat  in  the 
stomach,  throat,  and  mouth  ; and  in  the  morning  the  lips 
became  in  crusted,  and  the  skin  cracked  and  peeled  off. 
On  analyzing  some  of  the  matter  thrown  off,  the  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  part  of  a grain  of  arsenic  was  dis- 
covered, and  in  the  remains  of  a bottle  of  champagne 
two  ounces  of  wine  gave  one  grain  and  a quarter  of  sul- 
phate of  arsenic.”  It  is  evident  that  these  things  can- 
not be  imbibed  with  safety.  They  are  poisons,  and  act 
as  such  upon  the  human  system. 

Passing  from  wine  to  the  stronger  liquids,  we  find  the 
“ Vintner’s  Guide  ” affording  the  following  receipt  for 
improving  the  flavors  of  brandy  : “A  quarter  of  an  ounce 
of  English  saffron,  and  half  an  ounce  of  mace,  steeped  in 
a pint  of  brandy  for  ten  days,  shaking  once  or  twice 
a day ; then  strain  it  through  linen  cloth,  and  add  one 
ounce  of  terra  japonica,  finely  pounded,  and  three  ounces 
of  spirits  of  nitre  ; put  it  into  ten  gallons  of  brandy,  add- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  ten  pounds  of  prunes,  bruised.” 
Then,  to  give  it  all  the  qualities  of  the  old,  that  it  may 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDX- 


271 


have  the  popular  recommendation  of  age,  “ add  thirty- 
drops  of  aqua  ammcfnia  to  one  gallon  of  new  brandy, 
shaking  it  well,  that  it  may  combine  with  the  acid,  on 
which  the  taste  and  other  qualities  of  the  new  liquor  de- 
pend.” With  reference  to  brandy.  Dr.  Cox  says,  “I 
have  inspected  brands,  of  various  kinds  and  qualities, 
fresh  from  the  custom-house,  with  the  inspector’s  certfi- 
cate,  which  accompanied  them,  and  was  assured  that 
they  were  freshly  imported,  and  yet  the  chemical  tests 
gave  me  corn  whiskey,  with  abundance  of  fusel  oil,  or 
the  oil  of  corn,  as  a basis,  with  sulphuric  acid,  nitric 
ether,  prussic  acid,  copper,  chloroform,  quinia, . pepper, 
tannin  or  tannic  acid,  with  sometimes  a very  small  per- 
centage of  brandy,  and  frequently  not  a drop.” 

A gentleman  of  veracity,  in  Cincinnati,  too,  a druggist, 
that  he  might  have  a pture  liquor  as  a medical  article,  and 
that  kind  of  purity  that  he  could  recommend  to,  his  cus- 
tomers, went  to  New  York  and  purchased  two  half  pipes 
of  splendid  Leignette  brandy  — one  pjile,  the  other  dark. 
When  passing,  one  day,  he  called  me  in  to  see  his  beau- 
tiful pure  brandy,  just  from  New  York.  I stopped, 
looked  at  it,  smelled  it ; but,  before  tasting  it,  happening 
to  have  some  blue  litmus  paper  in  my  pocket,  I intro- 
duced a small  piece ; it  caine  out  as  red  as  scarlet.  I 
then  called  for  a polished  spatula,  put  it  into  a tumbler 
containing,  perhaps,  half  a gill,  and  waited  on  it,  perhaps, 
fifteen  minutes,-  at  the  expiration  of  which  the  liquor  was 
black  as  ink.  The  spatula  corroded,  and  when  dried,  a 
thick  coating  of  rust,  which,  when  wiped  off,  left  a cop- 
per coat  almost  as  thick  as  if  it  had  been  plated.  I 
charged  him  on  the  spot,  under  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
not  to  sell  a drop  of  it ; took  samples  of  it  to  my  office, 
and  the  following  is  the  result  of  my  analysis : First 
sample  — dark,  55  per  cent,  alcoholic  spirits  by  volume, 
and  41  per  cent,  by  weight.;  specific  gravity,  0.945.  The 


272 


INTEMPERANCE, 


tests  indicate  sulphuric  acid,  nitric  acid,  nitric  ether,  prus- 
sic acid,  quinia,  pepper,  and  an  aburidance  of  fusel  oil, 
base  common  whiskey  — not  a drop  of  brandy.  Second 
sample  — pale,  54  per  cent,  alcoholic  spirits  by  volume, 
40  per  cent,  by  weight ; specific  gravity,  0.955. 

They  were  purchased  on  four  months’  time.  The 
purchaser  immediately  notified  the  New  York  merchant 
of  the  character  and  quality  of  the  goods,  and  directed 
him  to  send  for  them  ; but  instead  of  doing  that,  he 
wmited  until  the  notes  became  due,  and  brought  the  suit 
into  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  at  Cincinnati.  The 
chemist  analyzed  the  liquors  in  the  presence  of  the 
court  and  jury,  showed  them  satisfactorily  that  they  were 
the  pernicious,  poisonous,  and  villanous  liquors  that  he 
had  represented  them  to  be,  and  the  defendant  gained 
his  case  triumphantly,  and  the  merchant  vanished  before 
a state  warrant  could  be  got  out,  otherwise  he  would 
have  had  ample  time  to  learn  an  honest  trade  in  one  of 
the  institutions  of  Ohio. 

It  may  be  that  rum  is  not  quite  so  extensively  adul- 
terated as  some  of  the  other  spirits.  It  is  supposed  to 
be  originally  a simple  distillation  of  the  sugar-cane  ; but 
a very  inferior  article  is  often  purchased,  and  by  the  ad- 
dition of  ale,  “ porter,  shrub,  Extract  of  orris-root,  cherry, 
laurel-water,  extract  of  grains  of  paradise  or  capsicum,” 
it  is  made  to  put  on  the  airs  of  fine  old  Jamaica,  and 
sold  correspondingly. 

Gin  is  more  fearfully  complicated.  In  this  may  be 
found  “ oil  of  vitriol,  oil  of  cassia,  oil  of  turpentine,  oil  of 
caraway,  oil  of  juniper,  oil  of  almond,  sulphuric  ether,  ex- 
tract of  capsicum,  extract  of  grains  of  paradise,  extract  of 
orris-root,- extract  of  angelica-root,  water,  sugar,”  to  say 
nothing  of  the  inti;oduction  of  lead,  that  often  finds  its  way 
in  with  the  host  of  other  things.  The  poisoning  process 
goes  on  through  all  the  malt  liquors,  with  perhaps  a more 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


273 


complicated  list  of  wretched  ingredients.  No  less  than 
twenty-eight  or  thirty  different  articles  are  specified  that 
go  to  make  up  beer,  and  some  of  them  are  the  rankest 
poisons,  and  mixed  in  a way  that  shows  such  an  accumu- 
lation of  filth  as  would  shock  the  man  of  lowest  taste, 
could  he  see  it,  much  more  the  fastidious. 

It  is  related  that  some  dissipated  men  and  women  were 
drinking  ale  and  porter  in  a dram  shop,  in  Hull,  Eng- 
land, not  long  ago.  “The  landlord  had  occasion  to 
leave  the  shop,  when  one  of  the  women,  seeing  on  the 
counter  a pitcher  full  of  what  she  supposed  to  be  porter, 
drank  a good  draught,  replacing  .the  pitcher.  In  a very 
short  time  she  was  seized  with  nausea  and  griping  pains, 
and  fell  down  on  the  floor  in  a state  of  hopeless  stupor 
and  intoxication.  In  this  state  she  was  conveyed  to  the 
hospital,  when,  the  contents  of  the  stomach  being  evacu- 
ated, she  was  rescued  from  being  poisoned,  although  it 
was  several  days  before  she  was  able  to  be  removed. 
The  matter  ejected  was  found  to  be  a strong  solution  of 
cocculus  indicus.  The  man  acknowledged  that  the  drug 
had  been  used  by  him  to  bring  up  his  ales  to  a strength 
to  suit  his  custonjers.  This  was  a noted  house  for  genuine 
ales  and  litter  leer." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  these  instances.  Enough 
has  been  said  to  show  any  one  that  it  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  indulge  in  any  of  the  alcoholid  drinks  of  the 
present  day  without  taking  mto  his  system  the  rankest 
poisons  the  world  can  furnish.  It  is  sufficient  to  make 
the  most  inveterate  drunkard,  pause,  and  consider  what 
he  is  doing.  It  certainly  should  make  the  moderate 
drinker  stop,  and  ask  himself  the  question,  if  he  can  de- 
liberately consent  to  poison  the  fountain  of  his  being  in 
this  way.  Surely,  he  who  begins  just  to  sip  a little,  or 
take  an  occasional  glass  for  the  sake  of  a jolly  time  with 
his  friends,  should  ponder  long  and  well  if  he  can  afford 
to  do  it.  17 


2T4 


INTEMPEEAl^CE, 


CHAPTER  XVI 1. 

License  and  Pkohibition. 


GOOD  AND  EVIL  AT  WAR  WITH  EACH  OTHER.  — THE  TWO  LEADING  PRIN- 
CIPLES.— EOR  WHAT  DO  WE  GRANT  LICENSE.  — MINER  BEFORE  THE 
MASSACHUSETTS  LEGISLATURE.  — A HUNDRED  DIFFERENT  LAWS.  — 
DECLARATION  OF  DR.  HUMPHREY.  — CONSTABLE’S  REPORT.  — STATE 
BOARD  OF  CHARITIES.  — WHAT  ALBERT  BARNES  SAYS.  — PROHIBITION 
THE  ONLY  THING.  — PROTECTIVE  POWER.  — ENGLAND’S  POSITION.  — 
NEAL  DOW  FATHER  OF  PKOHIBITION. — TESTIMONY  AS  TO  RESULTS. — 
CALL  TO  ACTION. 

The  powers  of  good  and  evil  in  the  world  are  always 
antagonistic.  Those  who-  are  arrayed  upon  the  one 
side  are  always  in  opposition  to  those  on  the  other. 
They  who  would  see  the  cause  of  right  prosper,  and  man- 
kind take  their  true  position  in  the  scale  of  being,  are 
always  seeking  by  every  condition  of  law  and  order  to 
bring  it  about.  The  less  careful  ones  are  more  intent 
upon  procuring  measures  that  shall  sanction  self-indul- 
gence, and  throw  no  restraint  upon  their  liberty,  which 
they  declare  to  he  their  special  gift  from  Heaven  to  do 
with  as  they  “please.  In  this  manner  are  arrayed  the 
friends  and  the  enemies  of  temperance.  The  former  are 
bringing  all  their  influence  to  bear  upon  the  suppression 
of  that  which  all  history  and  experience  proves  to  he  the 
greatest  evil  that  can  possibly  exist  in  anj-  land.  They 
labor  themselves,  and  multiply  agencies  of  every  descrip- 
tion and  character,  to  hasten  a co^nsummation  they  so 
devoutly  wish  would  come.  They  look  abroad  upon  the 
wide-spread  misery  and  woe,  and  every  glance  confirms 
them  in  their  determination  to  wage  war  upon  that  which 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


275 


inflicts  so  much  of  sorrow  upon  the  human  race.  They 
plead  — they  petition  the  authorities  of  state  and  nation 
to  send  forth  their  commanding  tones,  and  put  the  final 
touch  to  what  they  have  begun.  On  the  contrary,  the 
enemies  of  the  cause  are  incessantly  at  work  to  defeat 
the  whole.  The  millennium  has  not  yet  come,  and  evil 
is  strong  in  the  land,  and  there  are  times  when  appar- 
ently it’ is  in  the  ascendency,  and  wicked  men  exult  that 
their 'schemes  override  all  others.  The  true  man  says. 
Banish  the  infernal  drink  that  is  devastating  society,  and 
drowning  myriads  as  if  with  an  overflowing  flood ; shut 
up  the  places  that  are  as  so  many  schools  of  vice,  and 
let  those  who  sustain  them  he  evermore  forbidden  by  the 
stern  mandate. of  law,  and  those  who  work  at  the  foun- 
tain be  made  to  stay  their  unrighteous  proceedings  by  a 
similar  omnipotent  decree.  The  other  class  say.  Away 
with  your  sanctimonious  folly,  and  let  us  have  a little 
cheer  for  this  humdrum  life  ; let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry,  and  once  in  a while  forget  the^  cares  and  sorrows 
of  our  pathway ; and  so  it  is  acting  and  counteracting 
all  the  while,  and  the  time  and  manner  of  its  ending  is 
yet  an  unsolved  problem.  The  two  great  leading  prin-  ‘ 
ciples  of  action  with  the  friends  and  foes  of  temperance 
are  license  and  prohibition.  The  cursoiy  glance  We  give 
these  will  not  admit  of  minute  and  specific  details  of 
their  origin  and  working,  but  only  some  of  the  advan- 
tages and  objections  urged,  and  their  general  character.. 
There  are  thousands  engaged  in  the  miserable  traffic,, 
who  nevertheless  pronounce  the  business  in  itself  an  un-' 
mitigated  evil.  It  is  profitable,  and  therefore  they  quiet 
heir  -consciences  by  saying,  that  as  long  as  others  are 
permitted  to  do  it  freely,  they  might  just  as  well.  The 
consequences  will  be  no  worse  to  individuals  or  society 
for  our  selling,  for  it  will  be  had,  and  it  might  just  as 
well  be  had  of  us  as  any  one.  These  and  those  who. 


276 


ESTTEMPERAKCE, 


patronize  them  say,  It  is  an  evil,  we  know,  but  let  it  be 
regulated  and  shielded  by  a license  law.  They  like  to 
sit  under  the  shadow  of  some  such  institution,  for  it 
has  a wonderfully  cooling  effect  upon  their  overheated 
and  panting  natures.  They  can  sit  down  and  deal  out 
the  contents  of  the  whiskey  keg  or  the  beer  barrel  with 
the  utmost  complacency,  for  the  state  has  given  them 
authority  to  do  it,  and  not  every  one  has  been  thought 
worthy  of  the  signal  honor ; for  this  is  one  of  the  pleas 
of  the  license  men,  that  it  makes  it  respectable  — as  if 
anything  could  write  respectability  upon  that  which  has 
evident  woe  in  it  from  the  very  beginning- to  the  end 
thereof.  At  least,  it  so  far  comforts  its  votaries,  that  it 
makes  them  feel  they  are  doing  a legitirnate  and  honor- 
able work.  There  may  be  restraints  and  regulations  to 
keep  them  in  check  ; but  what  care  they  for  these,  while 
the  law  upholds  them  in  their  main  object.  They  are 
the  ones  singled  out  from  among  the  people,  as  being 
peculiar!}^  fitted  to  engage  in  that  occupation.  So  far 
from  considering  it  a mark  of  honor  and  respect  to  be 
thus  delegated,  it  is  a wonder  that  such  a one  does  not 
stop  short  in  his  career,  and  shudder  at  his  prospect. 
Let  him  ask  himself  the  question,'  For  what  am  I granted 
license  ? and  then  listen  to  the  reply  : — 

“ We  grant  license  the  taxes  twofold  to  increase, 

To  destroy  or  defame  the  whole  neighborhood’s  peace ; 

To  fan  up  the  flame  in  the  inebriate’s  breast ; 

To  deprive  him  of  reason,  and  rob  him  of  rest; 

To  wound  and  degrade  him  on  honor’s  bright  roll ; 

To  ruin  and  kill  him,  both  bodj-  and  soul ; 

To  freeze  and  to  star\-e  his  affectionate  wife ; 

To  afflict  her,  and  ruin  her  whole  prospect  in  life  ; 

To  beggar  his  children,  and  leave  them  forlorn 

To  receive  from  the  cold  world  but  pity  or  scorn  ; 

To  affect  courts  of  justice,  and  nile  their  decision  ; 

To  degrade,  and  pollute,  and  keep  them  in  derision; 

To  rule  or  to  ruin  the  affairs  of  the  city  ; 

To  pour  rum  broadcast  without  mercy  or  pity  ; 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT.  277 

To  bribe  legislators ; to  min  the  state ; 

To  increase  state  prisoners,  and  leave  them  to  fate ; 

To  soil  the  legislative  department  of  the  nation  ; 

To  befoul  and  pervert  each  condition  or  station ; 

To  fasten  on  government  a stain  and  a blot ; 

To  give  credence  to  rumor  — Our  ruler’s  a sot; 

To  ruin  church  members,  in  life  and  in  death, 

To  deprive  them  of  reason,  religion,  and  breath ; 

To  leave  them  to  the  fates  in  eternity  given. 

To  the  law  — No  drunkard  shall  enter  God’s  heaven.” 

Is  it  an  honor  to  be  commissioned  to  do  all  this  ? Can 
conscience  take  a “license,”  and  go  deliberately  forward 
in  this  work  ? It  is  said,  it  regidates  an  evil.  But  why 
not  come  up  to  the  full  measure  of  the  standard  of  right, 
and  seek  to  banish  that  which  is  acknowledged  an  evil, 
instead  of  retaining  it,  and  trying  to  curb  and  prune  it, 
to  make  it  more  respectable  and  tolerable.  Plainly,  if  it 
is  licensed,  an  evil  is  fostered,  and  if  one  evil,  then  a host- 
of  kindred  e^s  also  might  claim  protection ; and  where 
is  there  a limit  to  this  high  carnival  of  iniquity  ? There 
is  no  fairness  in  allowing  a few  men  to  do  all  this  mighty 
work.  ' 

Bather  . spread  it,  lest  the  terrible  reward  be  as  a 
crushing  millstone  grinding  the  few  to  powder.  In  an 
argument  before  the  Massachusetts  legislature  in  1867, 
on  this  question,  by  A.  A.  Miner,  he  says,  “ The  busi- 
ness itself  is  not  one  that  will  invite  men  of  high  char- 
acter to . enter  into  it.  Whatever  your  course  may  be 
on  this  subject,  the  liquor  sellers  of  Massachusetts,  <60 
long  as  you  cherish  the  character  which  the  state  now 
enjoys,  will  be  men  of  moderate  moral  attainments. 
Why,  gentlem’en,  though  an  eminent  representative  of 
the  traffic,  standing  here  the  other  day,  admitted  that  he 
wanted  a law  to  make  his  business  respectable,  I allege 
that  the  thing  is  impossible.  Massachusetts  cannot  en- 
act a law  that  will  make  the  selling  of  liquors,  as  bever- 
ages, respectable.  If  the  angel  Gabriel  should  come 


278 


INTEMPEKAilCE, 


down  to  earth,  and  sell  liquors  as  beverages,  he  would 
not  lift  the  business  up  to  heaven,  but  the  business 
would  drag  the  angel  down  to  hell.  If ‘I  were  to  define 
a license  law,  stringent  or  otherwise,  I should  say  it  was 
a legal  means  of  making  drunkards.” 

To  those  who  say,* I have  a license,  and  therefore  I 
can  arid  will  sell,  the  Rev.  .John  Pierpont  replies,  in  a 
most  sarcastic  manner,  “ You  have  a license  — and  that 
is  your  plea ; I adjure  you  to  keep  it ; lock  it  among  your 
choicest  jewels  ; guard  it  as  the  apple  of  your  eye  ; and 
when  you  die,  and  are  laid  in  your  coffin,  be  sure  that 
the  precious  document  is  placed  between  your  cold  and 
clammy  fingers,  so  that  when  you  are  called  upon  to  con- 
front your  victims  before  God,  you  may  be  ready  to  filp 
in  your  plea  of  justification,  and  boldly  to  lay  down  your 
license  on  the  bar  of  the  Judge.  Yes,  my  friend,  keep 
it ; you  will  then  want  your  license  signed  hj  the  county 
commissioners,  and  indorsed  by  the  selectmen.” 

The  very  conditions  of  the  license  law  show  its 
weakness.  One  of  these  forbids  selling  to  a man  already 
intoxicated.  A man  may  drink  until  he  ceases  to  be 
himself,  and  then  he  has  only  to  refrain  until  he  reaches 
a certain  commendable  stage  of  soberness,  before  he  can 
begin  and  act  the  same  over  again.  Is  that  making  the 
probability  of  his  becoming  a drunkard  any  the  less  ? 
“ A minor  may  not  drink  without  the  consent  of  his 
fatlier.”  Has  not  a father  who  would  give  such  consent 
forfeited  all  right  to  dictate  to  a child  what  he  shall  or 
shall  not  do  ? What  power  can  give  him.  a moral  right 
to  allow  that  he  knows  will  be  his  certain  destruction  ? 
“ It  must  not  be  sold  to  intemperate  men,  when  forbid- 
den by  their  wives.”  Did  the  law-makers  stop  to  think, 
how  much  better  it  would  be  for  those  wives  if  they  had 
gone  fai'ther  back,  and  laid  their  restrictions  where  they 
belonged,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  bear  the  torrents 


ITS  .ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  REMEDY,  279 

of  abuse  which  such  action  would  pour  upon  them  ? “ It 
shall  not  be  sold  to  be  drank  upon  the  premises.”  This 
protects  the  rum  seller,  and  shields  him  from  all  the  sad 
consequences  of  his  doings,  and  carries  them  all  into  the 
sanctuary  of  home,  to  torture  and  afflict  innocent  fam- 
ilies that  are  ever  mourning  the  fruits  of  license.  Some 
who  found  it  hard  to  give  up  their  pet  institution, 
thought  they  were  bringing  things  up  to  a higher  plane 
when  they  suggested  that  large  sums  be  demanded  for 
license,  so  that  the  rich  only  would  come  into  the  trade, 
and  all  the  “ low  groggeries  ” be  closed ; as  if  the  matter 
was  to  be  greatly  dignified  by  letting  wealth  and  stand- 
• ing  take  the  best  people  and  make  them  respectable 
drunkards.  O the  folly  of  men  when  their  own  wishes 
and  interests  are  at  stake  ! 

“ The  life  of  a nation  is  too  short,”  says  one,  “ for  the 
art  of  suppressing  the  liquor  traffic  by  license.  For  over 
two  hundred  years  our  fathers  tried  to  perfect  a ‘ strin- 
gent license  law,’  and  died  without  the  sight.  Their 
despair  may  well  be  crowned  whem  they  behold  the 
bungling  workmanship  of  the  wise  men  of  to-day.” 
During  all  these  years,  more  than  a hundred  different 
laws  were  passed  with  reference  to  licensing  and  regu- 
lating this  branch  of  trade ; and  says  this  same  person, 
“ An  attentive  perusal  of  them  would  constitute  a com- 
plete demonstration  of  the  inherent  weakness  of  all  such 
legislation.”  Dr.  Humphrey,  of  Amherst  College,  said, 
in  1833,  — 

“ It  is  plain  to  me,  as  the  sun  in  a clear  summer  sky, 
that  the  license  laws  of  our  country  constitute  one  of 
the  main  pillars  on  which  the  stupendous  fabric  of  in- 
temperance now  rests.”  In  the  same  year  Frelinghuysen 
declared,  “ If  men  will  engage  in- this  destructive  traffic, 
— if  they  will  stoop  to  degrade  their  reason,,  and  reap  the 
wages  of  iniquity, — ^^let  them  no  longer  have  the  law-hook 


280 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


as  a pillow,  nor  quiet  conscience  by  tbe  opiate  of  a court 
license” 

For  some  years  previous  to  1865,  a prohibitory  law 
had  been  in  force  in  Massachusetts ; but  at  this  date  there 
was  a determined  effort  among  its  enemies  to  abolish  it 
in  favor  of  the  license  system.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Temperance  Alliance  for  that  year  says,  “Strange  as 
it  may  appear,  a minister  of  the  gospel  volunteered  to 
carry  a license  law  through  the  legislature,  thus  render- 
ing the  services  of  rum  sellers  themselves  unnecessary, 
so  far  as  this  favorite  law  of  theirs  is  concerned.  With  a 
champion  from  the  church  and  pulpit,  whose  sacerdotal 
robes  would  contribute  to  the  dignity  of  ,his  singular 
mission,  the  liquor  dealers  of  Massachusetts  could  ask 
no  more.”  The  effort  was  a long  and  strong  one,  but  it 
failed,  at  thfe  time ; but  owing  to  certain  conditions  of 
party  policy,  .it  triumphed,  and  in  November,  1867,  the 
law  was  declared,  not  to  take  effect  until  the  spring  of 
the  following  year,  however.  A few  months’  expeiience 
under  the  new  administration  was  convincing  proof  to 
all  that  a great  mistake  had  been  made ; that  license 
was  miserable  in  principle,  and  a failure  in  action.  The 
practical  fact  that  it  was  of  regulative  tendency  was  no- 
where apparent.  The  commitments  to  prison  for  the 
same  length  of  time  were  more  than  doubled.  “ It  may 
well  be  doubted,'”  says  one,  “ whether  intemperance 
would  have  increased  with  more  rapid  strides,  if  no 
legislative  regulation  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
had  ever  been  made.”  The  law  opened  and  legalized 
about  twenty-five  hundred  open  bars  in  the  various  cities 
and  -towns,  besides  over  a thousand  other  places  where 
it  was  supposed  they  would  not  sell  by  the  glass.  In 
January,  1869,  the  constalfie  of  the  commonwealth  re- 
ported to  the  legislature  thus  : “ The  rapid  increase  of 

crime  and  violence  during  the  past  year  over  former 


ITS  ASPECT  AND*[TS  REMEDY.  281 

years  is  without  precedent  in  the  history  of  criminal 
experience.  The  state  prison  and  houses  of  correction 
never  held  within  their  limits  such  numbers  as  at  the 
present  time ; while  the  wheels  of  justice  are  almost 
clogged  with,  the  trial  of  constantly  accumulating  crim- 
inal business,  and  the  district  attorneys  of  Suffolk  find 
it  almost  impossible  to  clear  their  criminal  docket  from 
month  to  month,  notwithstanding  the  courts  in  this 
county  are  in  almost  perpetual  session.  Is  it  unfair  to 
suggest  that  the  open  bar  and  inviting  sale  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors,  licensed  and  unlicensed,  in  every  street,  is, 
to  a considerable  extent,  chargeable  and  responsible  for 
this  state  of  things  ? ” The  Board  of  State  Charities  for 
the  same  period  says,  also,  — 

“ While  in  our  cities  there  is  an  undeniable  increase 
in  intoxication,  and  consequent  crime,  the  change  is  more 
noticeable  in  the  smaller  towns,  and  the  effect  in  general 
is  so  palpable  that  public  opinion  seems  already  frowning 
upon  t-he  unseemly  order  of  things,  and  demanding  a re- 
turn to  the  safer  regime  of  prohibition,  with  reasonable 
penalties,  and  a faithful  attempt  to  execute  the  law. 
Poverty  and  vice  are  what  the  poor  man  buys  with  his 
poisoned  liquor  ; sickness,  beastliness,,  laziness,  and  pollu- 
tion are  what  the  state  gives  in  exchange  for  the  license 
money  which  the  dram  seller  filches  from  the  lean  jjurse 
of  the  day-laborer  and  the  half-grown  lad,  and  hands 
over,  sullied  with  shame,  to  the  high-salaried  official 
who  receives  it.  But  the  treasury  reaps  little  from  this 
revolting  tribute  ; for  along  with  the  licensed  shops  and 
bars  twice  as  mhny  that  are  unlicensed  ply  their  trade, 
and  debauch  the  poor  without  enriching  anybody  but 
the  dram  seller.  These  are  the  practical  results  of  a 
license  system  in  Massachusetts.  The  increase  of  intem- 
perance, which  the  reaction  of  last  year,  against  the  strict- 
ness of  prohibition  has  greatl}^  promoted,  interferes  at 


282 


INTESHPEEANCE, 


once  with,  our  industrial  interests,  fosters  pauperism  and 
disease,  and  swells  the  list  of  criminals.  That  intemper- 
ance has  increased  will  appear  from  the  prison  statistics, 
soon  to  he  submitted ; that  crime  and  vice  have  also  in- 
creased, will  be  shown  by  the  same  impartial  test,  as 
well  as  confirmed  by  the  observation  of  all  who  have 
attended  to  that  subject,  and  noticed  what  has  been 
going  on  in  the  past  year.  If  it  is  desired  to  secure  in 
the  best  manner  the  repression  of  crime  and  pauperism, 
the  increase  of  production,  the  decrease  of  taxation,  and 
a general  prosperity  of  the  community,  so  far  as  this 
question  of  intemperance  is  concerned,  it  is  clearly  best 
that  INIassachusetts  should  return  to  the  policy  which 
prohibits  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  except  for  me- 
chanical or  medical  purposes.”  Some  idea  of  the  traffic 
may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  the  dhect  rum  tax 
for  1868  was  three  million  dollars. 

“ An  evil  always  becomes  worse  by  being  sustained 
by  the  laws  of  the  land,”  says  Albert  Barnes.  “ It  is 
much  to  have  the  sanction  of  law,  and  the  moral  force 
of  law,  in  favor  of  any  course  of  human  conduct.  In  the 
estimation  of  man}''  persons,  to  make  a thing  legal  is  to 
make  it  morally  right;  and  an  employment  which  is 
legal  is  pursued  by  them  with  few  rebukes  of  conscience, 
and  with  little  disturbance  from  any  reference  to  a higher 
than  human  authority.  More£)ver,  this  fact  does  much 
to  deter  others  from  opposing  the  evd,  and  from  endeav- 
oring to  turn  the  public  indignation  against  it.  It  is  an 
unwelcome  thing  for  a good  man  ever  to  set  himself 
against  the  laws  of  the  land,  aixl  to  denounce  that  as 
lorong  which  they  affirm  to  be  right.  It  is  a virtue  to  be 
law-loving  and  law-abiding ; and  it  is  a principle  which 
every  good  citizen  cherishes,  to  do  what  he  can  to  give 
additional  force  to  the  authority  of  law,  and  not  to  lend 
the  sanction  of  his  name  to  that  which  would  weaken  its 
moral  power. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


283 


“ Hence  snch  men  are  often  slow  and  reluctant  in  at- 
tacking that  which  is  an  undoubted  evil,  for  the  attack 
seems  to  be  made  upon  the  legal  fabric  as  such,  and  to 
do  just  so  much  to  Aveaken  the  authority  of  law.  The 
good  are  deterred  from  opposing  it,  for  they  do  not  wish 
to  seem  to  be  arrayed  against  the  laws.  • The  bad  are 
confirmed  in  their  course,  for  they -feel  that  they  are  sus- 
tained by  the  laws  of  the  land ; and  for ' them  that  is 
enough.  They  can  claim,  too,  some  popular  sympathy 
when  they  are  denounced  for  doing  that  which  is  legal. 
They  can  pursue  their  course  iii  spite  of  all  that  others 
can  do.  Thus  the  evil  grows  in  strength  by  all  the  bold- 
ness given  to  them  by  the  sanction  of  the  laws,  and  by 
all  the  reluctance  of  the  friends  of  reform  to  denounce 
that  as  wrong  Avhich  the  law  affirms  to  be  right.”  The 
same  principle  holds  true  in  the  attempt  to  regulate  it, 
and  therefore  there  seems  no  alternative  but  to  prohibit 
it.  It' may  be  said  that  prohibition  will  not  accomplish 
the  desired  result ; that  laAV  itself  cannot  restrain  the 
appetites  and  passions  of  men,  and  (that  somehow,  in 
some  way,  they  will  find  the  means  for  their  personal 
indulgence.  Doubtless  they  will;  but  if  a man  is  to  take 
a journey,  he  cannot  reach  the  end  as  quickly  by  going 
long  distances  round,  climbing  over  hedges,  and  dodging 
various  obstacles,  as  though  he  went  straight  forward  in 
an  unobstructed  patliAvay.  Neither  can  a man  go  to  his 
own  destruction  as  fast  under  prohibition  as  under  li- 
cense. This  has  been  fully  demonstrated.  The  people 
of  Massachusetts  were  glad  to  return  to' the  former,  after 
the  reign  of  the  latter  for  a twelvemonth. 

Of  course  there  are  always  individual  exceptions  to 
every  rule.  There  will  always  be  those  who  will  violate 
any  law,  however  wise  and  necessary  that  law  may  be 
but  this  argues  nothing  against  the  wisdom,  justness, 
and  efficiency  of  the  law.  If  it  be  found  to  be  advan- 


284 


ESTTEMPERAITCE. 


tageous  to  the  public  good  generally,  that  it  ministers 
to  the  comfort,  peace,  and  prosperity  of  people,  it  is  suf- 
ficient to  secure  its  maintenance.  There  are  those  who 
scoff  at  legal  prohibition  as  an  invasion  of  their  just  rights 
and  liberties.  They  affirm  ihey  have  been  in  the  busi- 
ness when  the  protecting  arm  of  the  law  was  about  them, 
and  the,  people  have  no  right  to  rise  up  and  withdraw  it, 
saying  unto  them,  Thou  shalt  not ! But  where  would 
society  be,  if  universal  sufferance  were  given  to  all  the 
desires  and  imaginations  of  men.  It  is  bad  enough  with 
all  the  checks  and  restraints  that  can  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  it ; but  remove  all  these,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
earth  would  be  rij)e  for  another  deluge.  Manifestly,  in- 
temperance is  a great  moral  and  social  evil,  and  unless 
some  effectual  barrier  is  placed  in  its  way,  there  will  be 
no  limit  to  its  spread.  What  but  coercion  will  answer  ? 
Certainly  men  will  never  put  it  away  of  themselves. 
The  rigid  enforcement  of  a prohibitory  law  will  doubt- 
less do  more  than  anything  else  to  stay  the  rushing  tide. 
If  this  could  be  made  to  thunder  in  the  ears  of  the  man- 
ufacturer until  he  should  close  his  doors  and  cease  to 
convert  into  poison  the  good  things  of  earth,  there  would 
be  hope  for  the  rest. 

But  these  men  deny  the  right  of  society  even  to  whis- 
per of  such  a thing.  Have  they  not  a right  to  choose  their 
own  business,  and  to  conduct  it  in  whatever  form  they 
please  ? No  ! not  if  it  is  plainly  detrimental  to  the  pub- 
lic good.  “ It  is  the  main  prerogative  of  a civil  govern- 
ment to  prohibit  just  such  things  as  this.  Protection  is 
its  end  and  business  — the  protection  of  the  possessions, 
the  rights,  the  industry,  and  the  virtue  of  a community 
from  the  invasions  of  the  lawless  and  the  mischievous. 
Hence  the  main  function  of  a government  is  prohibition. 
Its  office  is  to  supervise  the  complicated  and  often  clash- 
ing operations  of  self-love  among  the  associated  thou- 
sands of  whom  societ}-  is  composed,  and  restrain  its  inju- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMBDY.  285 

rious  workings.  We  need  a civil  government,  simply 
because  in  the  social  state  we  are  exposed  to  injury  from 
the  evil-minded.  Its  end  is  protection ; and  its  power 
to  protect  lies  in  this  very  power  to  prohibit  whatever 
conflicts  with  social  order' and  private  rights.  Turn, 
now,  to  our  statute  law,  and  you  will  find  this  the  real 
meaning  of  each  enactment.  More  or  less  obviously, 
each  statute  is  a protective  prohibition.  It  pre-supposes 
some  lawful  interest  endangered,  some  laudable  pursuit 
molested,  some  social  or  individual  right  invaded;  and 
the  statute  is  the  arm  of  the  social  body  stretched  forth 
to  protect  the  violated  right  by  prohibiting  the  invasion.” 

Strong  drink  has  always  been  considered  a great*  and 
sore  evil.  Those  who  sell  it  and  those  who  drink  it 
are  unanimous  in  the  one  verdict  when  they  speak  out 
the  honest  co.nvictions  of  their  hearts.  Because  these  con- 
victions have  no  weight  in  their  practical  life,  it  is  pretty 
good  reason  there  is  needed  some  kind  of  enforcement 
from  outside  to  operate  as  a compelling  power.  The  pub- 
lic good  far  transcends  private  interest  and  convenience. 
The  law  is  for  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number, 
and  therefore  it  is  for  the  individual  to  yield  when  his 
plans  would  subvert  the  broader  foundations.  Every- 
where the  good  are  looking  to  this  one  principle  as  their 
only  hope.  One  of  England’s  philanthropists  speaks  thus 
at  the  present  time  : “ As  electors  and  citizens,  we  are 
always  willing  to  aid  any  measure  that  really  proposes  to 
restrict  the  present  ruinous  system  ; but  it  is  not  for  us  to 
take  the  initiative,  seeing  that  this  would  be  to  compro- 
mise with  the  enemy,  and  to  divert  us  from  the  great 
end  before  us,  viz.,  ‘ The  total  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic.’  All  amendment  schemes  we  leave  to  others ; 
our  object  is  not  to  amend,  but  to  annihilate.  All  that 
tends  in  this  direction  in  amendment  schemes  we  will 
accept  as  instalments  only.  Our  ultimatum  is  the  de- 
struction of*the  liquor  traffic,  root  and  branch.'’’  Nothing 


286 


INTEMPEEAITCE, 


short  of  this  should  satisfy  the  American  people.  As 
long  as  they  parley  with  the  enemy  it  will  remain  wkhin 
their  borders,  the  same  formidable,  ever-threa,tening 
giant.  They  need  to  throw  the  stone  straight  into’  its 
forehead,  if  they  would  behold  its  prostrate  form-,  with^ 
its  bold,  defiant  air,  forever  laid  low.  If  it  could  be 
banished  from  our  land,  it  would  be  the  greatest  victory 
that  was  ever  achieved  for  man  upon  the  earth.  There 
might  then  be  proclaimed  a “year  of  jxibilee,”  and  it 
would  be  an  occasion  at  which  the  angels  themselves 
might  like  to  minister.  It  were  idle  to  waste  words 
upon  the  glory,  of  such  a time.  Imagination  paints  it, 
and*the  conceptions  of  mind  revel  in  all  that  is  bright 
and  fair ; but  it  is  the  heart  especially  that  exults  in  the 
transcendent  blessing,  for  it  would  be  like  bathing  in  a 
clear  stream,  Avhen  theToulest  of  waters  have  long  been 
pouring  over  one. 

There  are  men  who  call  everything  Vi  failure  that  does 
not  suit  their  ideas ; so  there  are  many  who  declaim 
loudly  against  the  working  of  the  prohibition  principle. 
They  -see  no  great  difference  - — men  sell,  and  men  drink, 
and  where  is  the  good  ? The  eyes  of  these  men,  and 
their  ears  too,  need  to  be  subjected  to  some  kind  of  op- 
eration that  shall  enable  them  to  .discern  a little  more 
clearly  of  the  signs  of  the  times.  Prohibition  was  born, 
cradled,  nurtured,  and  has  grown  up  in  Maine,  and  Xeal 
Dow,  the  father  of  the  child,  thinks  it  is  anj'thing  but  a 
failure.  He  looks  upon  it  as  about  the  fairest  creation  that 
was  ever  presented  to  mankind,  and  he  makes  no  hesita-^ 
tion  in  saying,  wherever  he  goes,  that  it  corresponds 
more  nearly  with  his  ideal  than  anything  he  has  ever 
known.  Its  iDractical  influence  is  in  every  way  desirable. 
In  1872  the  governor  of  the  state  said,  “ In  some  places 
liquor  is  sold  secretly  in  violation  of  the  law,  as  many 
other  offences  are  committed  against  the  statutes,  and  tlie 
peace  and  good  order  of  society ; but  in  large  districts 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT.  287 

of  the  state  the  liquor  traffic  is  nearly  or  quite  unknown, 
where  formerly  it  was  carried  on  like  any  other  trade.” 
The  Hon.  W.  P.  Frye,  member  of  Congress  from  the 
Lewiston  district,  and  ex-attorney-general  of  the  state, 
also  says,  “ I can,  and  do,  from  my  own  personal  obser- 
vation, unhesitatingly  affirm  that  the  consumption  of 
intoxicating  liquors  in  Maine  is  not  to-day  one  fourth  as 
great  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago ; that  in  the  country 
portions  of  the  state  the  sale  and  use  have  almost . en- 
tirely ceased ; that  the  law  itself,  under,  a vigorous  en- 
forcement of  its  provisions,  has  created  a temperance 
sentiment  which  is  marvellous,  and  to  which  opposition 
is  powerless.  In  my  opinion,  our  remarkable  temperance 
reform  of  to-day  is  the  legitimate  child  of  the  law.”  ' Any 
amount  of  similar  testimony  might  be  adduced,  were  it 
necessary.  Everywhere-  in  the  land,  where  it  has  been 
tested,  it  is  with  the  same  result.  Certain 'localities  may 
perhaps  give  it  distinct  phases  and  coloring,  but  there  is 
one  united  voice  in  its  favor  among  ijhose  who  appre- 
ciate the  good  order  of  society,  and  are  interested  in  the 
lifting  up  and  advancement  of  the  race.  The  figures 
which  show  the  diminution  of  crime,  the  decrease  of  tax- 
ation, and  all  those  things,  are  an  eloquent  appeal  for  its 
universal  adoption.  They  stand  an  unanswerable  argu- 
ment in  its  favor.  Then  — 

■ “ Up  for  the  conflict ! let  your  battle  peal 

Bing  in  the  air,  as  rings  the  clash  of  steel 
When,  rank  to  rank,  contending  armies  meet, 

Trampling,  the  dead  beneath  their  bloody  feet. 

Up ! you  are  bidden  to  a nobler  strife  — 

Not  to  destroy,  but  rescue  human  life; 

No  added  drop  in  misery’s  cup  to  press. 

But  minister  relief  to  wretchedness ; 

To  give  the  long-lost  father  to  his  boy ; 

To  cause  the  widow’s  heart  to  sing  for  joy ; 

Bid  Plenty  laugh  where  hungry  Famine  scowls, 

And  pour  the  sunlight  o’er  the  tempest’s  howls; 

Bring  to  the  soul  that  to  despair  is  given, 

A new-found  joy  — a holy  hope  of  heaven. 


288 


INTEJIPBEAKCE, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Legislative  Acnoisr. 

TREE  OF  LIBERTY.  — ANCIENT  EMPIRES.  — SUPPRESSION.  — ORIGIN  OF 
THE  MAINE  LAW." — MASSACHUSETTS  LEGISLATION. — CONNECTICUT 
AND  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  — NEW  YORK.  — SPEECH  OF  HENRY  WARD 
BEECHER.  — OPPOSITION  AT  TAMMANY  HALL.  — LOCAL  OPTION.  — 
CIVIL  DAMAGE.  — MEMORIAL  TO  CONGRESS.  — THE  PLEADER’S  WORDS. 
— THE  GREAT  TEMPERANCE  MOVEMENT. 


Ameeicans  have  long  boasted  of  their  overshadow- 
ing tree  of  liberty,  and  have  pointed  with  pride  to  the 
unexampled  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  people  em- 
braced within  its  encircling  branches.  It  is  fair  and 
goodly  ; but  the  goodliest  thing  will  not  retain  its  good- 
ness without  care  ; it  will  not  preserve  its  vigor  and 
freshness  without  it  is  watched,  cherished,  and  culti- 
vated. There  is  no  question  but  that  intemperance  is  a 
worm  at  the  root  of  this  tree,  threatening  its  vitality, 
and,  through  this,  its  very  existenc’e.  Say  not  it  is  too 
firmly  established,  that  it  has  defied  the  storm’s  of  too 
many  winters,  and  braved  the  blasts  of  too  many  tem- 
pests, to  be  easily  uprooted.  We  grant  that  it  is  strong ; 
but  we  know,  too,  that  the  influences  at  work  are 
mighty  also,  and  that,  unless  they  are  stayed,  there . is 
danger.  The  great  empires  of  antiquity  rose  t.o  splendid 
heights,  and  they  fell.  Why  ? Because  the  destructive 
agencies  within  themselves  were  allowed  to  have  full 
sway.  It  may  be  we  have  a broader  basis  of  intelh- 


289 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMBDY. 

gence,  and  that  our  free  institutions  are  a sort  of  safety- 
valve  for  the  nation ; but  how  long  would  these  remain 
jinimpaired,  the  intemperate  habits  of  the  people  were 
permitted  to  go  on  unchecked  and  unrestrained  ? The 
safety  of  our  nation  actually  demands  consideration  on 
this  subject,  and  not  only  this,  there  is  imperative  need 
fdr  prompt  and  decisive  action.  , 

The  most  dangerous  foes  to  any  government  are  those 
within  its  own  borders.  If  the  people  are  loyal  and 
true,  and  determined  to  presef^^e  the  honor  and  integrity 
of  their  nation  at  whatever  cost,  they  will  present  a • 
united  front  to  whatever  foreign  ally  that  may  oppose 
them,  with  hope  of  success ; but  let  them  become  de- 
moralized among  themselves,  lose  their  discipline  and 
valor,  and  there  is  danger  that  the  subjects  of  such  a 
government  will  not  be  true  to  her  best  interests  in  the 
time  of  its  necessity.  What  a proud  empire  was  Greece, 
and  how  much  she  had  to  be  proud  of!  Her  days  of  . 
classical  story  were  brilliant.  Were  the  trophies  of 
genius  ever  piled  higher  than  then;e  ? Did  mind  ever 
sparkle  and  shine  with  greater  lustre  than  among  her 
philosophers  and  sages?  Was  not  Athens  world-re- 
nowned for  the  perfection  of  the  arts  and  sciences  and 
the  graces  and  accomplishments  of  her  people  ? But  all 
this  did  not  save  it.  It  fell,  not  so  much,  by  the  force 
of  the  Roman  arms,  as  by  her  own  effeminate  indul- 
gence. The  pageantry  and  pomp  of  the  seven-hilled 
city  was  once  a wonder  to  the  world ; but  the  tumult 
of  the  Tnultitude  has  long  since  died  away,  and  its 
mighty  ruins  alone  remain  to  tell  the  story  of  its  former 
greatness  and  magnificence  to  the  passing  traveller.  It 
is  true,  the  Goths  and  the  Vandals  came  down  upon  her 
plains,  and  set  fire  to  her  cities ; but  a reckless  ruler, 
and  a careless  and  besotted  people,  wantonly  fed  the 
flames  that  consumed  their  glory,  instead  of  rising  to 

. IS 


2^0 


INTEIVIPEEANCE, 


repel  the  invading  foe.  Wine  and  extravagance  had 
taken  the  heart  out  of  the  nation,  and  unnerved  the 
otherwise  powerful  arm,  and  its  doom  was  sealed.  Proud 
Babylon  was  another  ancient  city,  flourishing  and  fa- 
mous, and  history  tells  how  drunkenness  and  revelry 
made  it  easy  for  the  Medes  and  Persians  to  become  its 
cojjquerors,  and  appropriate  its  vast  possessions.  “ Had 
it  not  been  for  the  debauchery  of  her  king  and  princes, 
and  the  general  effeminacy  of  her  people,  she  might 
long  have  reared  her  lofty  Ifrow  among  the  nations,  with 
her  hanging  gardens  and  fair  palaces,  the  admiration  and 
delight  of  all  beholders.”  And  so  it  has  been,  and  so  it 
will  be.  A worm  at  the  root  may  destroy  the  loftiest 
proportions,  and  lay  that  low  which  seems  as  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon  in  strength. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  our  own  fair  land  may  come 
under  the  withering  stroke  at  some  future  day,  unless 
tJie  destructive  ravages  of  the  foe  be  stayed  in  their 
course.  If  intemperance  be  allowed  to  grow  unchecked, 
we  are  not  exempt  from  the  fate  of  other  nations.  Its 
own  legitimate  results  are  the  same  everj’where.  But 
we  believe  the  American  people  will  not  abandon  their 
heritage  to  such  a doom.  If  they  take  not  jyarning 
from  the  example  of  other  nations,  their  own  inherent 
energy  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  right  will  impel  them 
to  the  use  of  means  for  their  country’s  salvation.  AU. 
through  our  wide  dominions  there  is  a voice  that  is  an 
increasing  volume  of  sound  against  the  inroads  of  this 
mighty  evil.  S^ippression  is  the  cry,  -and  the  best  meas- 
ure for  its  accomplishment  is  the  question.  It  is  hope- 
ful. It  is  a gigantic  enterprise,  and  it  requires  a vast 
deal  of  machinery  to  keep  it  moving.  Then  let  none 
despair,  though  it  move  slowly.  The  people  are  being 
educated  up  to  the  work,  and  in  due  time  we  may  hope 
for  glorious  results. 


ITS  ASPECT  AlfD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


291 


There  has  been  a great  deal  of  legislation  upon  it  in 
the  different  states,  and  various  forms  and  measures 
resorted  to,  with  the  hope  that  some  cure  might  be 
found  for  the  teyrihle  mala'dy  that  is  upon  so  many  of 
our  people.  As  every  one  knows,  Maine  was  the  first 
to  wake  up  to  the  consciousness  that  something  decisive 
must-  |)e  done  in  the  work  of  reform,  and  Hon.  Neal 
Dow  was  the  man  to  instigate  and  help  forward  the 
mighty  enterprise?  He  was  a man  eminently  fitted  for 
th-e  position.  Already  a public  man,  and  enjoying  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  rally  them  when  he  lifted  up  the  banner  of  temper- 
ance, and  called  them  to  his  side.  Of  course,  those 
who  love  to  drink  and  those  who  like  to  sell  will  always 
wage  unrelenting  war  with  those  who  seek  to  take  from 
them  what  they  consider  their  own  peculiar  right  and 
privilege.  So  it  was  there.  But  the  strong  man  gained 
his  cause.  The  prohibitor}^  form  in  its  beginning  was 
less  stringent  than  now.  The  agitation  commenced  in 
1846  ; but  it  was  not  until  1851  the  law  took  such  shape 
as  really  to  affect  the  evil.  Under  the  management  of 
the  practical  and  efficient  leader,  the  bars  and  shops 
were  closed  that  before  had  been  inviting  every  one  to 
enter  and  take  as  they  pleased ; and  the  change  which 
was  soon  apparent  in  the  community  not  only  awakened 
joy  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  but  operated  as  a grand 
inspiration  to  the  men  of  other  states,  who  went  and  did 
likewise.  The  results  far  surpassed  the  most  sanguine 
expectations  of  its  friends.  Mr.  Dow  was  mayor  of  Port- 
land, and  there  he  brought  all  liis  personal  and  political 
infiuence  to  bear  upon  the  cause,  and  for  a time  all  went 
well.  Blit  underneath  the  surface  there  was  a volcanic 
element  at  work,  until  finally  it  burst  upon  society, 
and  did  its  scorching  work.  Every  possible  pretext 
was  resorted  to  by  a certain  class  as  an  exc^Ts'e  for 


292 


INTEMPERANCE, 


disturbance.  At  length  they  handed  together  at  a mid- 
night hour,  and  made  a raid  upon  a quantity  of  liquor 
in  possession  of  the  municipal  authorities,  and  in  the 
excitement  which  followed,  one  of  the  n\en  lost  his  life. 
From  this  time  there  was  fearful  disorder  among  these 
disaffected  ones,  and  it  continued  to  increase  until  the 
following  election,  when  there  was  a contest  of  almost 
unparalleled  fierceness  between  those  who  wanted  the 
law  and  its  non-supporters.  The  temperance  vote  was 
really  stronger  than  before ; but  owing  to  unusual  and 
peculiar  combinations,  they  were  lost,  and  the  legislature 
and  governor  were  after  the  pattern  of  the  rum-loving 
people.  Five  years  the  law  had  been  giving  out  its  bless- 
ings ; but  now  the  thing  was  reversed.  License  took 
the  place  of  prohibition,  and  in  every  city,  town,  and 
village  there  was  the  open  bar,  the  gay  saloon,  and  the 
less  inviting  shop.  Liquor  was  flowing  everywhere  in 
the  state,  and  so  alarming  were  the  consequences,  “ the 
philanthropist,  patriot,  and  Christian  sprang  to  the  res- 
cue ; ” nor  did  they  cease  their  labors  until  the  law  again 
triumphed  for  the  right,  and  they  were  planted  more 
immovably  than  ever  on  the  prohibitory  platform.  From 
this  time  they  became  an  abiding  power  in  the  land. 

Other  states  tried  the  same  with  varying  results. 
Some  have  been  found  strong  enough  to  enact  the  law, 
and  yet  have  been  wanting  in  moral  force  to  insure  its 
application,  and  consequently  have  failed  to  reap  the 
good  of  it.  Massachusetts  took  it  'to  herself  in  1852. 
Alternate  success,  and  defeat  have  been  its  history  ever 
since ; but,  in  the  main,  the  friends  of  temperance  have 
held  the  ground.  “ What  is  right  never  fails,”  says  one, 
“though  the  ignorant  and  sordid  may  reject  it  for  a 
time.  Wrong  always  has  failed,'  and  in.  spife  of  the 
‘ archangel  ruined,’  it  always  will.”  This  thought 
animated  the  host  of  temperance  workers,  and  nerved 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


293:. 


them  for  action  in  every  hour  of  seeming  repulse.  As  a 
specimen  of  the  efficiency  of  the  law,  the  United  States 
revenue  tax  on  sales  of  liquor  was  reduced  in  one 
district  in  Boston,  by  the  vigilance  of  the  state  con- 
stable, acting  in  obedience  to  the  prohibitory  statute, 
from  twenty-four  thousand  dollars  a month  to  six  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  same  time.  Under  the  temporary 
victory  of  the  liquor  sellers,  it  wa,s  raised  almost  imme- 
diately to  nearly  the  original  sum  — a very  evident  fact 
in  favor  of  the  laAv  of  prohibition.  In  two  years  it  closed 
hundreds  of  dram  shops,  and  shut  up  more  than  twenty- 
five  hundred  bars  in  the  city  of  Boston  alone ; and  in 
less  than  a year  paid  almost  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  into  the  treasury  of  the  state,  realized 
from  fines,  and  value  of  liquors  seized  and  sold. 

The  people  of  New  England  continued  to  knock  at  the 
doors  of  their  respective  legislative  halls,  %nd  one  after 
another  of  the  representatives  of  the  different  states 
were  commissioned  to  petition  for  .this  beneficent  larw. 

It  went  into  operation  in  Connelcticut  in  1854,  under 
the  administration  of  Governor  Dutton,  a wise  and  emi- 
nent statesman,  who  held  it — to'  use  his  own  words  — 
“ as  a rod  over  the  heads  of  those  who  would  otherwise 
cause  intemperance  to  spread.”  New  Hampshire  came 
under  its  dominion  a year  later,  and  the  estimation,  in 
which  it  is  held  there  is  seen  in  the  statement  of  one  of 
her  leading  men.  Judge  Upton,  who  says  of  it,  “ It  has 
been  matured  by  the  ablest  jurists  in  the  state  and  not 
a man  known  in  the  political  history  of  the  same  ever 
recorded  his  name  against  it.  It  has  stood  the  test  of 
judicial  investigation,  and  has  proved  its  power.  Its 
effectiveness  will  disarm  its  opponents  and  perpetuate 
its  existence.” 

When  the  bill  came  up  for  discussion  in  New  York,  that 
state  became  the  theatre  of  great  excitement.  On  its 


■ 294 


INTEMPEEAKCE, 


presentation  to  the  legislature,  every  possible  thing  in 
the  line  of  opposition  was  brought  in  its  way  ; and  in 
the  Senate,  also,  every  availaljle  obstruction  was  placed 
in  its  path  ; but  still  it  passed,  and  received  the  signature 
of  the  governor ; and  when  it  was  known,  a burst  of 
gladness  was  heard  from  every  side.  The  news  spread 
rapidly,  and  never  was  a law  more  gladly  heralded  than 
that  among  an  anxious  and  waiting  people.  A congrat- 
ulatory meeting  was  held  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
the  vast  assembly  seemed  determined  never  again  to 
submit  to  alcoholic  dominion.  Spirited  speeches  were 
made,  and  general  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  in  speaking  of  it,  said,  “ This  was  the  most 
important  meeting  that  had  been  gathered  in  New  York 
for  many  a day.  The  whole  state  would  be  looking 
towards  it.  They  would  ask,  What  does  the  city  of  New 
York  think  ^bout  that  Maine  Law  ? What  is  the  pulse 
there  ? and  what  do  they  intend  to  do  about  it  ? We 
had,  at  last,  procured  common  and  statutory  law  to  this 
effect,  that  making  and  selling  intoxicating  drinks,  for 
purposes  of  diet,  was  now  declared,  by  the  voite  of  the 
people  (what  he  regarded  as  common  law),  and  b}^the 
voice  of  their  representatives  (which  was  statutory  law), 
to  be  a crime.  We  might  be  baffled  and  balked  a great 
while  before  we  could  make  all  the  teeth  of  this  law 
meet,  with  a good  subject  between  them  ; we  might  have 
to  deal  with  men  who  could  come,  and  disappear-,  as 
spirits  do  but  there  was  one  thing  they  could  not  re- 
verse j after  years  of  discussion,  the  people  in  this  Em- 
pire State  had  declared,  that  the  making  and  selling  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  for  such  purposes,  was  a crime. 
The  principle  was  born  ; and  there  was  nothing  born 
on  the  face  of  this  earth  that  carried  such  j.oj  as  the  birth 
of  a moral  principle.  They  could  never  get  that  back 
again  they  might  'as  well  try  to  crowd  the  last  year’s 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


295 


chicken  into  the  shell.  Till  now,  we  had  been  working 
zigzag  before  this  Sebastopol ; but  we  could  not  be  long 
taking  it.  Efforts  would  be  made  to.  destroy  the  law  in 
the  courts  ; but  what  the  courts  decided  to  be  wrong 
could  be  rectified  ; we  were  in  for  the  battle,  and  would 
have  perseveranc.e  and  ingenuity  until  the  law  succeeded. 
The  voice  which  the  state  sent  up  to  the  city  was, 
“ Will  you  abide  by  the  prohibitory  law  ? ” The  response 
he  would  send  back  was  this  : “We  are  watching  and 
waiting  ; we  are  like  the  men  at  Waterloo,  lying' close 
to  the  ground,  until  they  should  hear  the  old  hero  cry, 
‘ Up,  Guards,  and  at  them.’  ” 

• This  meeting  was  followed  by  another  of  a different 
character  at  Tammany  Hall,  where  the  liquor  dealers 
and  their  sympathizers  assembled,  and  in  violent  language 
denounced  the  law  as  unconstitutional  and  fanatical. 
For  a time,  the  mayor  of  the  city  — Mr.  Wood  — seemed 
disposed  to  recognize  the  dignity  of  law,  and  give  his 
authority  to  its  enforcement ; but  he  was  finally  over- 
ruled by  injudicious  advisers,  and  the  law  was  practically 
a dead  letter.  Npt  so  was  it  in  every  place.  There 
were  those  who  stood  boldly  up,  and  said,  “ The  law  is  a 
law  now,”  and  wherevei-  it  was  violated  it  was  the  duty 
of  officials  to  recognize  the  violation,  and  act  accordingly. 
Shortly  after,  however,  the  matter  was  brought  before 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  whole  declared  unconsti- 
tutional. An  effort  was  made  to  introduce  a prohibitory 
bill,  but  it  was  rejected,  and  the  legislature  adjourned, 
leaving  the  state  without  any  law  that  would  touch  the 
nefarious  traffic.  Thus  was  enthusiasm  speedily  turned 
into  mourning.  After  a while  the  license  system  was 
adopted,  though  with  restrictions  that  made  it  a little 
more  hopeful  for  those  who  were  waiting  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  people  from  the  bondage  of  rum.  Those  who 
drank  and  those  who  sold  found  quite  a margin  for  their 


296 


INTEMPERANCE, 


comfort  in  it,  for,  in  good  measure,  the  thing  was  le- 
galized and  protected  by  the  state.  Notwithstanding  all 
the  effort  that  was  put  forth,  — and  it  was  by  no  means 
small,  — the  “ Excise  Law  ” remained  on  the  statute- 
books  of  the  state.  Remonstrance  was  useless.  The 
“ Local  Option  ” • bill  was  adopted,  but  the  veto  of  the 
governor  put  an  end  to  that.  In  1873,  another  effort 
was  made  to  secure  the  passage  of  a prohibitory  bill ; but 
this,  too,  proved  abortive  in  the  end,  and  the  problem 
is  yet  before  the  people. 

Several  states  have  adopted  the  “ Civil  Damage  ” sys- 
tem — a law  which  had  its  origin  in  Massachusetts,  and 
makes  rum  sellers  responsible  for  damages.  It  is  consid- 
ered “ a wise  and  righteous  provision  to  attach  to  a law 
of  prohibition  ; but  attached  to  a license  law,  as  in  Illi- 
nois, it  is  simply  a provision  to  license  men  to  sell  rum, 
if  they  will  put  themselves  under  three  thousand  dollar 
bonds  to  pay  all  damages  ; which  is  just  as  wrong  as  it 
would  be  to  license  men  to  do  any  other  evil,  if  they  will 
pay  damages.”  Michigan  and  Iowa  have  been  able  to 
secure  legislative  action  in  favor  of  prohibition,  but  most 
of  the  states  are  still  struggling  towards  this  goal  of  their 
ambition.  Pennsylvania  is  under  “ Local  Option,”  and 
Delaware,  West  Virginia,  and  Illinois  have  the  “ Civil 
Damage”  features  ; all  of  which  do  something  to  check 
a bad  cause,  but  fail  to  realize  the  ideal  of  what  the 
true  friends  of  temperance  wish  to  see,  and  hope, 
eventually,  to  accomplish.  In  all  the  Western  States, 
and  far  on  to  the  Pacific  coast,  the  public  sentiment 
is  thoroughly  aroused.  All  the  various  temperance 
societies  are  working  to  secrre  legislative  interference  in 
such  way  as  shall  effectually  suppress  the  growing  evil. 
But  state  legislation  is  not  enough  in  the  matter.  A 
national  evil  requires  national  consideration,  and  there- 
fore the  wise  and  thoughtful  among  the  friends  of  tern- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  297 

perance  resolved  that  something  he  done  to  make  it  a 
national  as  well  as  a local  issue.  Looking  at  it  in  con- 
nection with  the  public  economy  and  welfare,  it  assumed 
an  importance  second  to  none  other,  and  therefore  the 
following  “Memorial”  was  presented  to -the  United 
States  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  This  was 
done  through  the  action  of  the  National  Temperance 
Society,  the  last  year,  and  was  approved  and  indorsed  by 
the  various  organizations  and  societies  that  were  enlisted 
in  the  cause  of  temperance. 

“ Your  memorialists,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  re- 
spectfully represent,  that  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors 
as  a beverage  is  a prolific  source  of  pauperism  and  crime, 
resulting,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  destruction  of  the 
happiness  of  many  thousands  of  your  constituents  ; that 
the  manufacture,  importation,  and  sale  of  such  liquors, 
to  be  used  as  a beverage,  is  inimical  to  the  public  wel- 
fare ; that,  in  the  pecuniary  aspect,  the  amount  of  reve- 
nue derived  to  the  government  from  intoxicating  liquors 
is  much  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  taxation  which 
their  use  as  a beverage  occasions,  together  with  the  loss 
of  wealth-producing  capacity  on  the  part  of  those  who 
use  them  ; that  it  is  the  proper  function  of  government, 
after  the  divine  model,  not  to  legaliz^e  iniquity  for  the 
sake  of  gain,  but  to  restrain  and  prohibit  that  which 
tends  to  the  demoralization  of  the  people,  and  to  promote 
the  general  welfare.  W e therefore  respectfully  ask  you  to 
authorize  the  appointment  by  the  President,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  of  a Commission  of 
Inquiry  of  five  or  more  competent  persons,  to  serve  without 
salary  for  one  year,  more  or  less,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  investigate  : First.  The  subject  of  prohibitory  legisla- 
tion, and  its  effects  upon  intemperance  during  the  period 
(over  twenty  years)  covered  by  such  legislation,  in 


298 


INTEMPERANCE, 


Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  other  states  of  the  .Union ; 
Second.  To  inquire  and  take  testimony  as  to  the  re- 
sults of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic,  in  states  wherein  it 
prevails,  upon  the  general  condition,  the  moral,  social, 
intellectual,  and  material  well-being,  of  the  people  ; and. 
Third.  To  recommend  what  additional  legislation,  if  an}’-, 
Avould  be  beneficial,  on  the  part  of  Congress,  to  prevent, 
in  the  sphere  of  national  authority,  the  traffic  in  intoxi- 
cating liquors  as  a beverage.  We  ask  tlrafi  the  Commis- 
sioners be  appointed  solely  with  reference  to  personal 
fitness  for  the  duties  with  which  they  will  be  intrusted, 
irrespective  of  political  or  partisan  consideration  ; and 
that  they  be  authorized  to  employ  a clerk,  with  reasona- 
ble compensation,  and  to  have  such  expenses  as  are  inci- 
dental to  their  investigations  defrayed.  We  are  well 
assured  that  the  full  and  impartial  investigation  for 
which  we  ask,  with  your  official  authority  and  co-opera- 
tion, concerning  this  vital  subject,  will  be  most  welcome 
at  the  present  time  to  a large,  influential,  and  intelligent 
portion  of  citizens  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

“WiLLiAJvr  E.  Dodge,  President. 

“J.  M.  Stearns,  Corresponding  Secretary." 

• 

This  was  done  with  the  hope  that  a more  comprehen- 
sive and  reliable  statistical  information  would  be  brought 
before  the  people  generally,  which  should  be  to  them  as 
accurate  and  convincing  proof  of  the  alarming  extent  of 
the  evil,  and  also  of  the  wisdom  and  efficiency  of  the 
measures  already  in  existence  and  in  process  of  opera- 
tion. Said  he  who  stood  up  to  plead  in  its  behalf,  “ I 
believe  the  hour  is  at  hand  when  we  must  take  a forward 
step  in  dealing  with  this  problem;  when,  if  we  would 
not  go  backward,  we  must  wisely  take  a step  forward. 
Look  about  in  the  different  states  of  this  Union,  and  you 
will  find,  in  almost  all  of  them,  this  question  has  tlirust 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


299 


itself  forward.  It  cannot  be,  it  will  not  be,  it  ought  not 
to  be  put  down  ; and  we  bring  it  here  because  here  are 
the  headquarters ; here,  too,  is  the  responsibility  just  as 
direct  on  your  shoulders  as  representatives  of  the  nation, 
as  in  your  respective  states  the  responsibility  is  direct  as 
citizens  thereof.”  The  matter  was  fully  discussed  on  the 
floor  of  Congress,  and  what  shall  be  the  result  remains 
for  the  future  to  disclose.  When  the  American  people 
as  a nation  shall  rise  in  their  strength,  and  proclaim  pro- 
hibition through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and 
moral  principle  shall  be  sufficiently  strong  to  prove  a 
propelling  force  in  its  application,  there  will,  dawn  a 
brighter  day  than  has  yet  been  known  in  all  their  history. 
Nothing  that  can  be  done  would  so  elevate  and  ennoble 
the  mass  of  the  people  as  this.  Nothing  but  “ total 
abstinence  for  the  individual  and  prohibition  for  the 
state,”  can  save  us  from  the  withering  blight  of  intemper- 
ance. The  contest  is  open,  and  the  war  is  being  waged  ; 
and  who  will  enlist?  It  is  a better  and  more  hopeful 
work  than  animated  the  crusaders  of  old,  and  made  them 
willing  to  peril  their  lives  by  a long  and  doubtful  pilgrim- 
age. As  a partial  and  forcible  reply  to  the  question  we 
have  asked,  we  subjoin  the  following  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Holland  on 

THE  GREAT  TEIVIPERANCE  MOVEMENT. 

For  years  and  years,  and  weary,  suffering  years,  mul- 
tiplied into  decades,  have  the  women  of  America  waited 
to  see  that  traffic  destro3^ed  which  annually  sends  sixty 
thousand  of  their  sons,  brothers,  fathers,  and  husbands 
into  the  drunkard’s  grave.  They  have  been  impover- 
ished, disgraced,  tortured  in  mind  and  body,  beaten, 
murdered.  Under  the  impulse  of  maddening  liquors  the 
hands  that  were  pledged  before  Heaven  to  provide  for 
aJid  protect  them  have  withdrawn  from  them  the  means 


300 


INTEMPEKANCB, 


of  life,  or  smitten  them  in  the  dust.  Sons  whom  they 
have  nursed  upon  their  ^bosoms  with  tenderest  love  and 
countless  prayers,  have  grown  into  beasts,  of  whom  they 
are  afraid,  or  have  sunk  into  helpless  and  pitiful  slavery. 
They  have  been  compelled  to  cover  their  eyes  with  shame 
in  the  presence  of  fathers  whom  it  would  have  been  bliss 
for  them  to  hold  in  honor.  They  have  been  compelled 
to  bear  children  to  men  whose  habits  had  unfitted  them 
for  parentage  — children  not  only  tainted  by  disease,  but 
endowed  with  debased  appetites.  They  have  seen  them- 
selves and  their  precious  families  thrust  into  social  degra- 
dation, and  cut  off  forever  from  all  desirable  life  by  the 
vice  of  the  men  they  loved.  What  the  women  of  this 
■ countr}^  have  suffered  from  drunkenness,  no  mind,  how- 
ever sympathetic,  can  measure,  and  no  pen,  however 
graphic,  can  describe.  It  has  been  the  unfathomable 
black  gulf  into  which  infatuated  multitudes  of  men  have 
thrown  their  fortunes,  their  health,  and  their  industry, 
and  oirt  of  which  have  come  orily  — in  fire  and  stench  — 
dishonor,  disease,  crime,  misery,  despair,  and  death.  It 
is  the  abomination  of  abominations,  the  curse  of  curses, 
the  hell  of  hells  ! 

For  weary,  despairing  years,  they  have  waited  to  see 
the  reform  that  should  protect  them  from  fuither  harm. 
They  have  listened  to  lectures,  they  have  signed  pledges, 
they  have  encouraged  temperance  societies,  they  have 
asked  for  and  secured  legislation,  and  all  to  no  practical 
good  end.  The  politicians  have  played  them  false  ; the 
officers  of  the  law  are  unfaithful ; the  government  reve-  * 
nue  thrives  on  the  thriftiness  of  their  curse  ; multitudes 
of  the  clergy  are  not  only  apathetic  in  their  pulpits,  but 
self-indulgent  in  their  social  halfits ; newspapers  do  not 
help,  but  rather  hinder  them  ; the  liquor  interest,  armed 
with  the  money  that  should  have  bought  them  prosperity, 
organizes  against  them ; fashion  opposes  them ; a million 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


301 


fierce  appetites  are  arrayed  against  them,  and,  losing  all 
faith  in  men,  what  can  they  do  ? There  is  but  one  thing 
for  them  to  do.  There  is  bnt  one  direction  in  which 
they  can  look,  and  that  upward  ! The  wometi’s  temper- 
ance movement,  begun  and  carried  on  by  prayer,  is  as 
natural  in  its  bhth  and  growth  as  the  oak  that  springs 
from  the  acorn.  If  God  and  the  godlike  element  in 
women  cannot  help,  there  is  no  help.  If  the  pulpit,  the 
press,  the  politicians,  the  reformers,  the  law,  cannot  bring 
reform,  who  is  there  left  to  do  it  but  God  and  the  wo- 
men ? We  bow  to  this  movement  with  reverence.  We 
do  not  stop  to  question  methods  ; we  do  not ' pause  to 
query  about  permanent  results.  We  simply  say  to  the 
glorious  women  engaged  in  this  marvellous  crusade, 
“ May  God  help  and  prosper  you,  and  give  you  the 
desire  of  your  hearts  in  the  fruit  of  your  labors.” 

It  becomes  men  to  be  either  humbly  helpful  or  dumb. 
We  who  have  dallied  with  this  question;  we  who  have 
dispassionately  drawn  the  line  between  temperance  and 
total  abstinence ; we  who  have  deplored  drunkenness, 
with  wine-glasses  in  our- hands  ; we  who  have  consented 
to  involve  a great  moral  reform  with  politics ; we  who 
have  been  politically  afraid  of  the  power  of  the  brutal 
etement  associated  with  the  liquor  traffic  ; we  who  have 
split  hairs  in  our  discussions  of  public  policy;  we -who 
have  given  social  sanction  to  habits  that  in  the  great 
cities  have  made  drunkards  -of  even  the  women  them- 
selves, and  led  their  sons  and  ours  into  a dissolute  life ; 
we  who  have  shown  either  onr  unwillingness  or  our  im-’ 
potence  to  save  the  country  from  the  gulf  that  yawns 
before  it,— -can  only  step  aside  with  shamefaced  humility 
while  the  great  crusade  goes  on,  or  heartily  give  to  it  our 
approval  and  our  aid. 

This  is'  not  a crusade  of  professional  agitators,  clamor- 
ing for  an  abstract  right,  but  an  enterprise  of  suffering. 


302 


INTEMPEKAMCE. 


pure  and  devoted  womep,  laboring  for  tbe  overthrow  of 
a concrete  wrong.  It  is  no  pleasant,  holiday  business  in 
which  these  women  are  engaged,  but  one  of  self-denying 
hardship,  pr^nant  in  every  part  with  a sense  of  duty. 

Is  is  the  offspring  of  a grand  religious  impulse  which 
gives  ta  our  time  its  one  superb  touch  of  heroism,  and 
redeems  it  from  its  political  debasement  and  the  degra- 
dation of  its  materialism.  It  is  a shame  to  manhood 
that  it  is  necessary ; it  is  a glory  to  womanhood  that 
it  is  possible. 

If  the  experience  of  the  last  century  has  demonstrated 
anything,  it  is  that  total  abstinence  is  the  only  ground 
on  which  any  well-wisher  of  society  can  stand.  The 
liquor  traffic  has  been  bolstered  up  for  years,  and  is  strong 
to-day,  simply  through  influence  which  is  deemed  re-' 
spectable.  It  must  be  made  infamous  by  the  combination 
of  all  the  respectable  elements  of  society  against  it.  It 
must  cease  to  be  respectable  to  drink  at  all.  It  must 
cease  to  be  respectable  to  rent  a building  in  which  liquors 
are  sold.  There  is  no  practicable  middle  ground.  So 
long  as  men  drink  temperately,  men  Avill  drink  intemper- 
ately,  whether  it  ought  to  be  otherwise  or  not ; and  it  is 
with  reference  to  the  development  of  a healthy  public 
opinion  on  this  subject  that  we  particularly  rejoice  in  the  * 
woman’s  crusade.  Our  own  vision  is  so  blinded  and  per- 
verted that  we  can  only  see  the  deformity  of  the  monster 
which  oppresses  us  through  woman’s  eyes,  iqilifted  in 
prayer,  tearful  in  shame  and  suffering,  or  bright  in 
triumph,  as  the  strongholds  of  her  life-long  enemy  fall 
before  her. 


GENERAL  REMARKS. 


Here  and  there  in  the  history  of  the  past,  we  are  led 
to  see  tlie  workings  of  some  great  reform,  and  as  the 
historian  leads  us  on  tiirough  all  the  intricate  windings 
that  must  needs  he  compassed  before  the  grand  result 
can  be  reached,  we  are  convinced  that  nothing  worthy, — 
nothing  far-reaching  and  substantial  can  be  wrought  out* 
except  through  much  toil  and  pains-taking.  Tlie  most 
valuable  things  of  earth  can  be  had  only  by  delving  for 
them.  The  richest  veins  of  metals  lie  where  man  must 
dig  long  and  patiently,  if  he  would  make  them  available 
for  practical  use.  Glistening  pearls  lie  embedded  in 
the  ocean  sands,  and  the  diver  must  subject  himself  to 
peculiar  danger  and  hardship,  if  he  would  make  their 
rare  brilliancy  minister  to  human  gratification ; and  the 
gold  and  the  pearl,  after  they  are  brought  to  light,  must 
needs  go  through  a process  of  one  kind  and  another  before 
they  are  fitted  to  meet  the  demands  of  those  wlio  require 
them.  It  seems  to  be  a universal  law — one  that  heaven 
has  instituted — that  labor  and  toil  shall  be  tlie  price  of 
every  thing  good.  The  thoughtful  mind  will  perceive  the 
wisdom  of  the  plan,  and  see  how  it  tends  to  the  highest 
good  of  men,  and  the  development  of  the  truest  and  most 
efficient  character.  This  same  principle  that  holds  good 
in  the  natural  world  is  also  true  in  the  moral.  Almost  all 
the  revolutionary  movements  that  have  affected  the  moral 
condition  of  mankind,  have  been  characterized  by  slow 


804 


INTEMPERANCE, 


and  laBorious  -working,  that  at  times  have  made  their 
strongest  supporters  gro-w  faint  lest  they  fail  of  the  ulti- 
mate good  they  had  in  vie-w.  Truth  and  error  have  always 
been  at  war  with  each  other,  and  the  good  is  only  evoked 
through  conflict.  That  mighty  reformation  of  Luther’s  time 
cost  a great  deal.  There  were  prisons,  and  judgments  of 
various  kinds,  before  those  who  were  bent  upon  realizing 
the  lofty  ideal  that  a heaven-directed  imagination  had 
given  them  to  see.  Nothing  could  intimidate  those  heroic 
souls,  that  were  bound  to  do  and  dare  for  the  sublime 
purpose  of  freeing  human  souls  from  the  shackles  of 
priestly  superstition,  and-  opening  the  door  through  which 
all  might  pass  to  the  land  of  religious  freedom.  That, 
like  a beautiful  Canaan,  was'ever  beckoning  them  onward. 
The  promise  of  what  might  be  enjoyed  there  was  always 
an  incentive  to  vigorous  action,  and  thus  allured,  they 
counted  not  their  lives  dear  to  them,  if  so  be  the  goal 
could  be  woii.  The  victory  was  gained,  and  it  sent  a wave 
of  blessing  through  all  the  earth,  vivifying,  by  a thousand 
crystal  streamlets,  the  moral  vineyard  every  where.  We 
exult  to-day  in  what  was  wrought  out  so  painfully.  We  are 
higher  in  the  scale  of  being  now,  for  every  weary  step  of 
those  determined,  earnest  workers. 

Let  us  not  fail  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  way  in 
which  the  most  and  the  bbst  of  life’s  blessings  come  to 
us.  They  are  associated  with  toil  and  sacrifice.  Some- 
body must  work  long  and  hard  to  make  tliem  available 
in  practical  life.  There  must  be  delving  and  digging 
somewhere  to  bring  out  and  beautify  the  gems  that  are 
encrusted  "with  much  of  crude  material  that  make  the 
process  slow  and  discouraging  at  times.  Thoughts  like 
these  take  possession  of  the  mind,  as  we  stand  and  look 
out  upon  the  present  agitation  which  is  s-n^ying  the  friends 
of  temperance,  and  mo-ving  them  to  a work  of  reform. 


ITS  ASPECTS  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  305 

It  may,  and  doubtless  will  be,  a long  and  stern  conflict ; 
and*those  who  go  forth  to  do  battle  need  to  be  well  pano- 
plied, and  to  gird  themselves  for  resolute  action,  and  be 
prepared  for  all  sorts  of  patient  endurance.  The  Crusaders 
of  old  faltered  not  in  their  march,  though  upon  every 
print  of'  the  foot  they  left  their  life-blood  as  a mark.  Be- 
fore them  was  a holy  shrine,  and  that  shrine  was  in  the 
hands  of  profane  men,  as  they  thought,  and  at  all  hazards 
it  must  be  rescued  and  preserved.  A far  more  sacred 
object  is  before  the  Temperance  Crusaders  of  to-day. 
There  are  thousands  of  shrines  in  human  hearts  that  are 
polluted  and  endangered,  and  the  question  is.  Can  they 
be  savfed  ? Let  the  small  host  who  have  risen  up  to  start 
on  the  mighty  enterprise,  be  made  still  stronger.  Without 
distinction  of  rank  or  sex,  the  ranks  should  be  increased, 
for  the  end  sought  is  of  universal  interest,  and  any  one 
who  enlists  in  the  service  can  work  with  the  confident 
assurance  that  every  thing  done  in  this  direction  is  a part 
of  that  blessed  reformation  which  the  world  greatly  needs, 
and  which,  could  it  be  obtained,  would  be  ttke  bathing  us 
all  in  sunshine.  The  magnitude  of  the  work  should  by 
no  means  appall.  It  will  cost  a great  de&l,  but  it  is  worth 
the  cost.  If  the  veterans  fall  before  the  goal  is  won,  let 
others  take  their  places  and  march  on  to  the  front.  If 
the  standard-bearers  grow  feeble  and  faint,  let  the  more 
youthful  and  stronger  ones  seize  the  banner  and  carry  it 
forward  to  victory,  amid  the  shouts  and  rejoicings  of  a 
grateful  people. 


19 


m 


. A 

FULL  DESCRIPTION 

OP  THE. 

OEIGIN  ARD  PROGRESS 

OF  THE 

New  Plan  of  Labor  by  the  Women 

UP  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

By  T.  A.  H.  BROWN, 


REPORTER  POR  THE  ONaNNATI  GAZETTE,  WHO  WAS  CONSTANTLY  IN  THE  FIELD. 


INTRODUCTION 


BY  BIO  LEWIS 


EARLY  IMPRESSED  WITH  THE  POWER  OF  PRATER. — THREE  HUNDRED 
AND  FORTY  LECTURES  ON  THE  SUBJECT.  — THE  FIRST  INSTANCES 
WHERE  THIS  POWER  WAS  TRIED  UPON  GROG  SHOPS. — DIXON,*  ILL., 
AND  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  DRIVE  OUT  THE  DRAM  SELLERS.  — 
HOW  THe  MOVEMENT  W^AS  SMOTHERED  IN  MANCHESTER,  N,  H.  — 
THE  MOVEMENT  ANALYZED.  — A PRAYER  MEETING  FR03I  BEGINNING 
TO  END,  — DIFFERENCE  IN  PRATERS.  — THE  PLAN  WHICH  LARGE 
CITIES  SHOULD  ADOPT. 

The  present  wide-spread  interest  in  the  Woman’s 
Temperance  Movement  has  suggested  the  preparation 
of  the  following  facts  in  its  history. 

When  I was  a boy,  my  father’s  habitual  intemperance 
kept  our  humble  home  in  a deep  shadow.  My  mother 
was  obliged  to  earn  with  her  own  hands  the  food  for 
her  five  children,  and  then  to  cook  it ; she  was  obhged 
to  earn  the  material  for  our  clothing,  and  then  to  cut 
and  make  it ; she  was  general  provider,  cook,  house- 
keeper, nurse,  — in  brief,  she  was  everything  to  her 
family.  In  addition  to  all  this,  she  was  not  unfre- 
quently  the  victim  of  abuse  and  personal  violence.  But, 
a high-spirited  woman,  she  refused  to  entertain  the  idea 
of  separation,  and  bore  all  her  sorrows  with  Christian 
fortitude.  But  sometimes  the  trouble  was  more  than 
she  could  bear,  when  she  would  burst  into  tears,  and, 
leaving  us,  would  climb  up  into  the  garret  of  our  house 


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ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  3^1 

to  pray.  We  youngsters  used  to  listen  and  hear  her  cry 
out  in  anguish,  “ O - Lord,  how  long,  how  long,  how 
long ! O God,  help  me,  help  me,  help  me  ! ” Then  she 
would  be  still  for  a while ; and  when  she  came  down  to 
us  again,  we  noticed  that  although  her  eyes  were  red, 
her  face  shone  like  an  angel’s.  The  day  was  never  so 
dark  at  our  house  that  my  precious  mother  could , not 
go  up  into  the  attic,  open  the  cloud,  and  let  in  the  light 
of  heaven. 

I grew  up  with  an  exalted  conception  of  the  power 
of  a woman's  prayer.  Even  now,  at  the  distance  of 
more  than  forty  years  from  those  dark  days,  I never 
think  of  any  great  evil  or  criminal,  that  my  mind  does 
not  immediately  busy  itself  with  the  thought,  that, 
through  woman’s  prayer,  all  this  might  be  cured. 

About  twenty  years  ago,  I prepared  with  great  inter- 
est an  Address  upon  the  Power  of  Woman’s  Prayer  in 
Grog  Shops.  During  these  twenty  years  I have  deliv- 
ered that  Address  more  than  three  hundred  and  forty 
times,  and  have  constantly  cherished  a firm  confidence 
that  the  time  would  come  when  through  woman’s  prayer 
the  dram  shops  of  our  country  would  be  closed. 

About  nineteen  years  ago  the  plan  was  tried  in  a small 
village  in  New  York,  with  good  results.  About  fifteen 
years  ago,  while  lecturing  in  the  west,  on  the  subject  of  ■ 
Physical  Education,  I proposed,  at  Dixon,  111.,  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Harsha  and  other  clergymen  in  Dixon,  to  de- 
liver my  Address  on  the  subject  of  the  Pow-er  of  Woman’s 
Prayer  in  Grog  Shops,  if,  on  a certain  Sunday  evening, 
they  would  all  forego  their  regular  exercises,  and  attend 
in  the  large  hall.  They  expressed  some  doubt  about  the 
propriety  of  temperance  lectures  on  the  Sabbath  day ; 
but  when  I explained  the  general  spirit  and  drift  of  my 
address,  they  consented.  The  hall  was  crowded,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting  a committee  of  three  women  was 


312 


INTEMPEE  AKCE, 


elected  to  prepare  an  appeal  from  the  v/omen  of  Dixon 
to  the  dealers  in  intoxicating  drinks  there,  and  a com- 
mittee of  fifty  women  to  circulate  that  appeal  among 
the  dram  sellers.  The  next  morning  the  visiting  com- 
mittee held  a meeting,  heard  the  appeal  read,  liked  it, 
adopted  it,  and  immediately  started  out  with  it  and  sev- 
eral pledges  which  had  been  prepared  meantime.  They 
went  from  saloon  to  saloon,  pleading,  singing,  praying. 
In  one  week  their  task  was  finished  ; thirty-nine  dram 
shops  were  closed,  and  the  papers  announced  that  not 
even  a glass  of  lager  beer  could  be  purchased  in  town. 

I left  Dixon  soon  after,  and  went  on  my  way,  dis- 
cussing and  urging  the  cause  of  physical  training  for  the 
young  of  our  country,  in  which  I was  then,  and,  indeed, 
have  ever  since  been,  deeply  interested.  It  is  not  im- 
probable, if  this  movement  had  been  pushed,  and  town 
after  town  enlisted  in  the  good  work,  that  the  great 
revolution  now  going  forward  in  the  country  might  have 
been  developed  at  that  time ; but  I was  then  so  deeply 
impressed  with  the  vital  importance  of  the  educational 
work  I had  undertaken,  that  I thought  even  the  temper- 
ance reform  one  of  secondary  importance.  However,  a 
few  months  later,  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement 
was  inaugurated  at  Battle  Creek,  IMich.  The  Rev. 
Charles  Jones,  Congi’egational  minister  of  that  city,  now 
residing  at  Saxonville,  Mass.,  and,  indeed,  all  the  cler- 
gymen of  that  city,  including  the  Episcopal,  responded 
to  my  suggestion  for  a union  Sabbath  evening  temper- 
ance meeting  in  the  large  hall,  dismissing  the  regular 
religious  exercises  in  the  churches,  and  bringing  their 
congregations  with  them  to  the  hall. 

The  same  steps  were  taken ; a committee  of  five 
women  to  draft  an  appeal,  and  a committee  of  a hundred 
women  to  circulate  it,  with  the  prepared  pledges,  were 
elected  at  the  close  of  the  meeting ; and  before  noon  of 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


313 


the  following  clay,  the  committee  of  visitation,  marching 
two  by  two,  and  extending  more  than  two  blocks,  halted 
in  front  of  the  hotel  where  I was  stopping,  to  show  me 
a large  sign  with  the  word  “ Saloon,”  which  four  of 
them  were  carrying,  the  first  trophy.  Within  two  weeks 
the  fifty  dram  shops  in  town  had  been  closed,  with  the 
exception  of  one,  a large  drinking,  billiard,  and  gambling 
institution,  which  held  out  for  three  weeks  longer. 

But  even  this  marvellous  success  did  not  induce  me 
to  turn  aside  from  the  cause  of  physical  education,  and 
engage  in  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement. 

Soon  after  that  time,  I went  to  Boston  to  establish 
the  Normal  Institute  of  Physical  Education,  to  train 
teachers  of  the  new  gymnastics.  For  years  I continued, 
body  and  soul,  in  that  work ; and  then  came  that  part 
of  my  histoiy  devoted  to  the  establishment  of  the  edu- 
cational institution  at  Lexington,  where  I hoped  to  illus- 
trate the  possibilities  in  the  physical  training  of  young 
women  during  the  period  of  their  school  life. 

During  the  four  years  given  to  the  .Lexington  work, 
and  up  to  the  time  that -those  magnificent  buildings 
were  destroyed  by  fire,  I scarcely  thought  of  anything 
outside. 

I removed  again  to  Boston,  six  years  ago,  with  the 
intention  of  devoting  the  residue  of  my  life  to  writing 
and  lecturing  upon  the  subject  of  education.  In  one  of 
my  books  published  shortly  after,  through  the  Harpers 
under  the  title  of  “ Our  Girls,”  I recurred  to  the 
Woman’s  Temperance  Movement,  and  published  in  that 
work  the  details  of  the  attempts  made  years  before  to 
close  dram  shops  through  the  pleading,  songs,  and  pray- 
ers of  women.  I then  seriously  resolved  to  attempt  the 
inauguration  of  a Woman’s  Temperance  Movement  in 
New  England,  and  selected  Manchester,  N.  H.,  for  the 
first  trial.  I spent  a week  in  that  city  in  preparation. 


314 


ESTTEMPEEANCE, 


Nearly  all  of  the  clergymen  were  interested,  and  rhany 
leading  citizens  promised  to  occupy  seats  on  the  plat- 
form. Mr.  Clark,  United  States  senator,  presided.  The 
meeting  was  held  in  Smythe’s  Hall,  was  immense  in  num- 
bers, and  not  only  was  conducted  in  accordance  with 
the  programme,  but  w‘as  altogether  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent meetings  I have  ever  attended.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting  we  attempted  to  organize  the  regular 
committees ; but  the  crowd  was  so  gveat  that  it  was 
thoiight  better  to  adjourn,  to  meet  the  next  morning  at 
ten  o’clock,  to  complete  the  business  arrangements. 
The  meeting  next  morning  was  full  and  enthusiastic ; 
the  committees  were  appointed,  and  everything  looked 
most  auspicious.  I had  thus  far  been  so  conspicuous  in 
the  work,  and  was  so  anxious  withal  that  it  should  be  a 
Woman’s  Movement,  that  I thought  it  wise  to  leave 
IManchester  and  our  good  cause  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mittee of  two  hundred  women.  I -returned  to  Boston, 
and  waited  for  reports  from  Manchester.  The  women 
had  a large  meeting  the  next  morning ; were  advised  b}*^ 
the  men  not  to  go  at  once  to  the  dram  shops  Avith  the 
appeal  and  pledges  which  had  been  prepared,  but  to  cir- 
culate petitions  through  the  city,  and  gather  the  names 
of  all  the  women  and  girls  over  fifteen  years  of  age, 
which  should  be  published  and  circulated  among  the 
‘dram  shops  before  the  visits  of  the  women  began.  This 
task  occupied  two  weeks  ; the  names  Avere  published, 
making  quite  a large  pamphlet.  These  pamphlets  AA'ere 
circulated  among  the  dram  sellers,  and  in  four  weeks 
the  women  called  a meeting  with  the  intention  of  start- 
ing out  in  the  regular  work  of  visiting  the  dram  shops, 
but  the  meeting  Avas  a small  one,  and  lacked  enthusiasm  ; 
great  variety  of  opinion  was  expressed  in  reference  to 
the  propriety  and  wisdom  of  this  and  that,  and  the 
Woman’s  Temperance  Movement  in  Manchester  Avas 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


315 


abandoned,  though  all  cherished  the  ’belief  that  much 
good  had’  been  done  by  way  of  elevating  public  senti- 
ment. 

At  Nashua,  N.  H.,  Natick,  Mass.,  and  at  other  points 
in  New  England,  I made  attempts  to  establish  the  work, 
but  was  everywhere  more  or  less  disappointed  with  a 
lack  of  unanimity  and  enthusiasm  among  clergymen. 
Since  that  time  I have  continued,  as  the  public  knows, 
to  lecture  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  have  pub- 
lished several  volumes  on  the , subject,  which  have  had  a 
wide  circulation. 

Last  December,  while  lecturing  in  Southern  Ohio  be- 
fore the  Lyceums  upon  the  Higher  Education  of  Our 
Girls,  I devoted  some  spare  evenings  to  the  discussion 
of  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  in  Hillsboro’,  the  second  in  Washing- 
ton, Fayette  Co. ; the  whole  world  knows  the  rest  of 
the  story. 

I cannot  give  the  story  of  the  Woman’s  Temperance 
Movement  without  giving  my  own  relations  with  it. 
Omitting  this,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  a series  of 
accidents,  of  inexplicable  happenings.  I trust  the  read- 
er will  excuse  so  much  that  is  merely  personal. 

The  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement  is’  one  of  the 
most  profoundly  religious  revolutions  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  It  is  very  simple  ; a prayer-meeting  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  What  seems  a series  of  stages  in  the  work 
is  nothing  but  a change  of  place  for  the  prayer  meeting. 
First  it  is  in  the  closet,  then  in  the  vestry  of  the  church, 
then  in  the  saloon  ; but  it  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
prayer  meeting  from  beginning  to  end.  And  I notice 
that  many  clergymen  and  religious  papers  speak  of  it  as 
illustrating  the  power  of  prayer,  and  as  a triumphant 
response  to  Professor  Tyndall’s  proposition.  I am  happy 
and  grateful  in  the  belief  that  this  view  is  just ; but  I 


316 


INTEI.IPERA^"CE, 


must  take  pains  to  say  that  I have  not  observed  that 
prayer  has  served  in  this  cause,  unless  it  is  of  one  pe- 
culiar kind.  I have  heard  men  pray,  during  the  last  few 
months,  for  the  suppression  of  dram  shops.  I do  not 
believe  that  their  j)rayers  have  added  to  the  success  of 
the  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement.  Their  prayers 
have  been  mostly  from  the  base  of  their  brains.  Let  me 
illustrate.  Not  long  since,  in  Ohio,  I heard  a man  j^ray 
in  a gathering  about  a saloon.  I recall  distinctly  certain 
sentences  in  his  prayer,  but  I shall  not  be  able  to  give 
you  his  manner  , I can  only  say  that  his  fists  were  closed, 
and  he  shook  his  head  while  he  was  praying.  He  cried 
in  a loud  voice,  “ And  now.  Almighty  God,  wilt  thou 
soften  his  hard,  heart ; wilt  thou,  with  thy  own  right 
arm,  break  his  obdurate  will,”  &c.  Of  course  that 
prayer  was  not  meant  for  God’s  ear ; it  was  designed  for 
the  chap  inside  of  the  saloon ; but  an  eternity  of  such 
prayers,  uttered  by  all  the  men  oh  the  globe,  would  not 
close  one  dram  shop. 

Shortly  after  the  man’s  prayer  was  finished,  an  igno- 
rant girl  prayed,  and  her  prayer  was.  the  sort  which  has 
accomplished  this  great  temperance  revolution.  I recall 
some  of  the  sentences  which  were  uttered  in  a voice 
sweet  and  tender  beyond  my  power  of  description.  She 
said,  “ Father,  we  thank  thee  that  we  can  do  this ; 
and  if  thou  dost  not  give  us  the  answers  we  ask,  we  are 
thankful  all  just  the  same.  Dear  Father,  we  thank  thee 
that  we  are  permitted  -to  do  this  work  of  love; 'we  feel 
ourselves  coming  nearer  and  nearer  to  thee.  Dear 
Father,  we  thank  thee  for  this  sweet  privilege  with  all 
our  hearts.  Dear  Father,  the  distance  between  thee 
and  the  best  of  us  is  so  great,  and  the  distance  between 
the  best  of  us  and  the  worst  of  us  so  small,  that  if 
thou  canst  be  patient,  loving,  and  forgiving  towards  the 
best  of  us,  we  shall  find  it  easy  ^o  be  patient,  loving,  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY, 


317 


forgiving  tovfards  the  worst  of  our  fellows.  Dear  Father, 
fill  our  hearts  with  love ; in  all  our  thoughts,  in  all  our 
words,  may  we  breathe  only  the  spirit  of  Jesus.” 

Thus,  when  it  is  claimed  by  Christians  that  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Woman’s  Temj)erance  Movement  is  in  answer 
to  prayer,  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  kind  of 
prayer  which  has  been  followed  by  the  great  blessing  is 
that  uttered  by  this  Ohio  girl.  This  gives  the  key-note 
of  the  great  campaign. 

That  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Movement  is  success- 
ful in  villages  and  small  towns  no  one  doubts ; but  there 
is  very  considerable  doubt  about  its  success  in  large 
cities.  For  myself,  I have  not  a shadow  of  doubt  that 
it  will  prove  successful  in  the  large  cities,  under  the  fol- 
lowing management : — 

First.  Let  each  church  organize  a daily  prayer  meet- 
ing. From  this  prayer  meeting  let  committees  of  two 
or  three  women  be  sent  out  at  once,  and  constantly  to 
visit  the  owners  of  real  estate  where  drams  are  sold,  and 
the  private  homes  of  those  who  keep  the  saloons.  They 
will  plead  with  these  persons  to  sign  the  pledge  that 
they  will  do  so  no  more.  These  small  committees  will 
report  every  day  at  the  prayer  meetings,  and  within  a 
week  ten  or  fifteen  of  these  small  committees  will  have 
visited  as  many  persons  as  they  can  undertake  to  labor 
with. 

Second.  After  on^  or  two  weeks,  these  church  prayer 
meetings  will  send  out  committees  of  five  women,  to  visit 
the  dram  sellers  at  their  places  of  business,  to  quietly 
plead  with  them,  and  before  they  leave,  kneel  in  a cor- 
ner of  the  bar-room  for  a few  moments  of  silent  prayer. 

Third.  After  one  or  two  weeks  of  this  labor,  the 
‘women  will  generally  conclude  to  send  out  larger  parties, 
say  of  thirty  to  fifty,  to  hold  religious  exercises  in  some 
of  the  larger  drinking  places,  with  a distinct. understand- 


318 


IKTEMPEEAInCB, 


ing  that  when  a disturbance  is  threatened,  they  imme- 
diately resolve  themselves  into  the  smaller  committees 
of  the  second  method,  and  do  not  gather  again  in  large 
companies  perhaps  for  that  day,  certainly  not  until  they 
see  an  opportunity  to  work  more  effectively  in  large 
bodies. 

God  is  in  the  cities  quite  as  much  as  in  the  country ; 
the  women  of  the.  cities  are  as  intelligent  and  as  sor- 
rowful over  the  curse  of  dram  shops  as  their  sisters  in 
the  country  ; and  if  they  manage  in  the  way  I have  sug- 
gested, will  as  certainly  succeed  as  thn  women  of  small 
towns. 

Very  respectfully^ 

DIO  LEWIS. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT. 


319 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  WOMAN’S  MOVEMENT.  — THE  NEW  LAW  FOR  THE  SUP- 
PRESSION OP  INTEMPERANCE.  — DIO  LEWIS’S  PLAN  AT  HILLSBORO’. — 
WASHINGTON  COURT-HOUSE  THE  NEXT  PLACE.  — HOW  SLATER  WAS 
SQUELCHED.  — THE  FIRST  TABERNACLE.  — SIEGE  OF  CHARLIE  BECK, 
ETC. 

Seven  cities  of  ancient  Greece  contended  for  the 
honor  of  being  Homer’s  birthplace,  and  so  there  are  sev- 
eral places  that  claim  to  have  given  to  the  world  the 
“Woman’s  Temperance  Movement.”  The  controversy, 
however,  narrows  down  to  two  small  towns  in  South- 
ern Ohio,  the  names  of  which  have  already  become 
familiar  to  the  whole  country.  Before  the  remarkable 
scenes  which  closed  the  year  1873,  Hillsboro’  and  Wash- 
ington Court-House  were  obscure  hamlets,  content  with 
being  the  honored  seats  of  their  respective  counties  ^ 
Highland  and  Fayette.  The  movement  was  begun  first 
in  Hillsboro’,  but  attained  the  most  strength  in  Wash- 
ington, from  which  it  came  to  be  known  as  the  “ Wash- 
ington Court-House  plan.” 

Hillsboro’  is  one  of  those  old  aristocratic  and  some- 
what conservative  towns  which  are  sometimes  found  in 
the  middle  southern  states,  like  a relic  of  a past  genera- 
tion, and  a standing  reproof  against  the  push  and  hurry 
of  the  average  western  city.  It  has  about  three  thou- 
sand five  hundred  inhabitants,  many  of  whom  are  de- 
scended from  the  old  Virginia  stock,  and  inherit  the 
bibulous  customs  of  the  old-style  gentleman.  So  many 
of  the  men  were  accustomed  to  their  daily  stimulant. 


320 


INTEMPERANCE, 


that  the  public  mind  was  anything  but  sensitive  on  the 
temperance  question,  and  saloon  keepers  were  wont  to 
ply  their  calling  unmolested  by  law.  Where  liquor 
drinking  was  looked  upon  with  some  allowance,  liquor 
selling  was  not  deemed  a disgrace.  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, one  of  the  most  improbable  things  in  .the  range  of 
possibilities  that  Hillsboro’  should  lead  off  in  as  radical  a 
movement  for  temperance  reform  as  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  But  it  was  destined  so  to  be. 

On  the  evening  of  December  22,  1873,  Dio  Lewis, 
a Boston  physician  and  lyceum  lecturer,  delivered  in 
Music  Hall  a lecture  on  “ Our  Girls.”  He  had  been 
engaged  during  the  autumn  previous,  by  the  Lecture 
Association,  to  fill  one  place  in  the  winter  course  of  lec- 
tures, ffierely  for  the  entertainment  of  the  people.  At 
the  close  of  his  address,  he  S,nnouneed  that  he  would 
sj)eak  to  as  many  as  chose  to  come  and  hear  him,  on  the 
following  night,  on  the  subject  of  temperance.  He  gave 
some  hints  of  a plan  which  he  proposed  for  a campaign 
in  the  interest  of  society.  The  audience,  by  a rising 
vote,  requested  him  to  remain  and  speak. 

. On  the  following  night  a large  and  enthusiastic  audi- 
ence assembled  in  the  same  place,  to  hear  the  proposed 
plan  elaborated.  Dr.  Lewis  delivered  a stirring  address 
on  the  general  subject  of  temperance,  after  which  he 
told,  at  some  length,  how  a band  of  women  in  a New 
England  manufacturing  village  had  driven  rum  Lorn 
their  midst  by  a crusade  of  prayer  and  song.  It  was 
one  of  those  dull,  dead  places,  where  the  boys  worked 
in  the  mills,  and  the  men  got  drunk  for  a business. 
There  were  six  saloons  in  the  town,  and  one  night  a 
company  of  these  boys  were  enticed  into  one  of  them, 
and  made  drunk.  When  the}^  were  taken  home  their 
mothers  and  sisters  were  horrified.  They  saw  that 
unless  something  was  done,  their  brothers  and  sons 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


321 


would  soon  be  as  worthless  as  their  husbands.  One  of 
these  women  was  the  speaker’s  mother,  the  wife  of  a 
drunken  husband.  Next  day  she  collected  a band  of 
the  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters  of  the  place,  and  they 
went  to  the  church.  There  they  poured  out  their 
■hearts  in  prayer,  and,  kneeling  about  the  altar  in  a 
circle,  joined  hands,  and  solemnly  promised  God  and 
each  other  never  to  give  up  until  every  dram  shop  in' 
town  was  closed. 

Next  day  they  went  in  a band  to  the  saloon  of  the  man 
who  had  made  the  boys  drunk,  and  praj^ed  and  pleaded 
with  him  until  lie  pledged  himself  never  to  sell  intoxi- 
cating liquor  again.  Then  they  went  to  the  other  places, 
and  after  a while  all  but  one  promised  they  would  quit  if 
the  rest  would.  The  obstinate  liquor  seller  for  a time 
treated  them  with  sarcastic  politeness,  thinking  it  was  a 
feminine  freak  that  would  soon  wear  out.  He  ordered 
his  “ Boston  rocker,”  and  pillows  for  his  head  and  feet, 
and,  there  being  no  other  chairs  in  the  room,  urged  the 
ladies  to  take  seats,  go  on  with  their  praying,  and  make 
themselves  at  home,  while  he  took  a nap.  His  business 
kept  him  up  late  at  night,  and  made  him  sleepy.  Then 
. while  they  prayed  and  sang  he  snored  ; but  they  knew 
all  the  time  that  he  was  awfully  wide  awake.  At 
length  there  was  a rustling  of  paper.  The  saloonist 
opened  one  eye  a little,  and  the  ladies  were  taking  out 
lunches ! When  it  came  night,  and  they  went  home, 
“ Charlie  ” urged  them  to  come  again.  He  was  always 
glad  to  see  his  friends,  especially  the  ladies.  They  came 
again,  and  day  after  day,  until  Charlie’s  urbanity  had 
subsided,  into  sullen  silence.  At  length,  one  day  he 
broke  in  upon  their  devotions  with,  — 

“ Hold  on  a minute.  I want  to  know  how  long  this 
devilish  business  is  going  to  last ! ” 

“ Just  so  long,”  was  the  quiet  reply,  “ as  you  persist 
in  selling  whiskey  to  our  husbands  and  sons.” 


322 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


A few  more  days,  and  Charlie  yielded,  and  all  the 
saloons  were  closed.  That  was  nineteen  years  ago,  and 
never  from  that  day  to  this  has  there  been  a place  in 
that  village  where  a glass  of  intoxicating  liquor  could  be 
bought. 

This  was  the  doctor’s  plan  for  driving  out  saloons. 
The  people  of  Hillsboro’  could  do  it,  if  the  women  only 
had  the  energy,  persistency,  and  true  Christian  spirit. 
So  forcibly  .was  the  thing  presented,  that  a motion  was 
made  to  put  the  new  idea  into  execution  at  once.  It  was 
carried  by  a rising  vote.  Secretaries  were  appointed, 
and  seventy-five  ladies  enlisted  on  tlie  spot  to  under- 
take the  task.  Addre'sses  were  made  by  the  pastors  of 
churches  present,  and  _ by  Colonel  W.  H.  Trimble,  all 
indorsing  the  mpvement,  and  pledging  it  their  support. 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Thompson,  Mrs.  P.  J.  Jeans,  and  Miss  E.  L. 
Grand-Girard  were  appointed  a committee  to  write  an 
appeal  to  be  read  to  the  liquor  sellers  by  the  committee 
of  visitation.  After  voting  to  meet  next  morning,  at 
ten  o’clock,  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  the  meeting 
adjourned.  It  ought  also  to  be  stated  that  seventy-five 
men,  in  this  meeting,  put  their  names  down  as  moral 
and  pecuniary  “backers  ” of  the  undertaking. 

At  the  morning  meeting  the  ladies  put  their  signa- 
tures to  the  following  solemn  compact : — 

“ We,  the  ladies  whose  names  are  hereto  appended, 
agree  and  resolve  that,  with  God’s  help,  we  will  stand 
by  each  other  in  this  work,  and  persevere  therein  until 
it  is  accomplished,  and  see  to  it,  as  far  as  our  influence 
goes,  that  the  traffic  shall  never  be  revived.” 

On  Christmas  morning,  at  nine  o’clock,  all  prelimina- 
ries being  arranged,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  women 
filed  out  of  the  church,  formed  a procession,  and  marched 
to  the  drug  stores.  They  went  with  trembhng  limbs  and 
anxious  hearts.  It  was  to  them  a strange  experiment, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  323 

a new  idea.  It  seemed  subversive  of  all  the  recognized 
rules  of  womanly  conduct.  The  thought  of  going  into 
a low  part  of  the  town,  and  entering  one  of  those  vile 
dens,  which  respectable  people  abhorred  at  a distance ; 
of  kneeling  in  sawdust  and  filth  to  plead  with  bloated 
and  beery  saloon  keepers,  was  all  overwhelming  to  their 
finer  sensibilities,  and  shocking  to  their  modesty.  They 
shrank  from  the  task,  half  in  doubt  and  half  in  fear. 
But  again  they,  thought  of  the  drunkards  that  were 
reeling  home  from  those  saloons  every  night, : — perhaps 
into  their  families,  — and  of  the  temptations  that  were 
lying  in  wait  for  their  children  in  the  future.  Their 
misgivings  left  them,  and  personal  considerations  no 
longer  had-  any  weight. 

The  drug  stores  were  the  first  to  receive  attention.  It 
was  known  that  at  one  of  these  places,  at  least,  the 
pestle  and  mortar  at  the  door,  and  the  rows  of  polished 
jars  on  the  shelves,  were  but  a disguise,  under  which 
was  carried  on  an  extensive  retail  liquor  trade.  A 
pledge  was  prepared  to  meet  the  case  of  all  druggists, 
and  on  the  morning  of  their  first  visit  it  was  signed  by 
two  of  the  four  drug  stores  — J.  J.  Brown  and  Seybert 
& Isamenn.  Dr.  W.  R.  Smith,  the.  third  druggist,  who 
was  alsq  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  would 
only  sign  with  the  proviso  that  he,  as  a physician,  had  a 
right  to  prescribe  liquor,  and  sell  on  his  own  prescrip- 
tion. Of  the  fourth  druggist,  W.  H.  H.  Dunn,  more 
hereafter. 

On  Friday,  December  26,  the  saloons  were  visited. 
There  were  eleven  of  them,  and  they  presented  a defi- 
ant front.  Mrs.  J.  H.  Thompson,  daughter  of  the  late 
Governor  Allen  Trimble,  made  the  first  prayer  in  a 
liquor  saloon  during  the  movement.  They  secured  no 
signatures  that  day.  Uhrig  was  stubborn  ; Ward  said 
he  was  in  a bad  business,  and  meant  to  stop  as  soon  as 

• 20. 


824 


rNTESIPEKAlsCE, 


he  felt  able  to  do  so  ; Bales  ■was  flippant  and  hard  ; the 
hotels  couldn’t  do  a profitable  business  ■without  selling 
liquor ; and  so  the  ladies  separated  to  their  homes,  on 
the  evening  of  the  first  day,  ■with  no  victories  to  boast, 
but  with  new  strength  and  determination  in  their 
hearts. 

The  next  morning  the  ladies  received  a communica- 
tion from  Dunn,  in  reply  to  the  appeal  of  the  committee 
of  visitation.  It  was  as  folio 'ws  : — 

“Ladies:  In  compliance  with  my  agreement,  I give 
you  this  promise,  — that  I will  carry  on  my  business  in 
the  future  as  I have  in  the  past ; that  is  to  say,  that  in 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  I will  comply  with  the 
law  ; nor  will  I sell  to  any  person  whose  father,  mother, 
wife,  or  daughter,  sends  me  a written  request  not  to 
make  such  sale.” 

This  was  the  first  defiant  blast  from  the  notorious 
Dunn,  who  was  destined  to  give  more  trouble  to  the 
“ crusaders,”  — as  they  came  to  be  called, — than  any 
other  man  during  the  whole  course  of  the  movement. 
Dunn  is  represented  as  a man  of  frank,  open  disposition, 
and  a high  sense  of  honor,  which  rendered  the  people 
unprepared  for  the  violent  opposition  which  he  mani- 
fested. He  was  moved  by  no  prayers,  and  would  listen 
to  no  entreaties.  For  a while  he  made  no  objection  to 
the  ladies  coming  into  his  store,  and  canying  on  their 
devotions ; but  at  length,  one  Friday  morning,  they 
found  the  door'  locked  upon  them,  and  were  thereafter 
inexorably  excluded.  But  this  neither  detracted  from 
their  ardor  nor  diminished  their  numbers.  Prayer  meet- 
ings were  held  on  the  walk  in  front  of  his  door,  while 
hundreds  of  sj'mpathizing  listeners  stood  about. 

It  was  a sight  calculated  to  melt  the  stoutest  heart. 
However  -bitter  the  cold,  or  piercing  the  wind,  these 
women  could  be  seen,  at  almost  any  hour  of  the  day. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIMEDY. 


325 


kneeling  on  tlie  cold  flag-stones  before  this  store.  In  tire 
midst,  Avith  voice  raised  in  earnest  prayer,  is  tire  danglr-. 
ter  of  a former  governor  of  Ohio.  Surrounding  her  are 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  statesmen,  lawyers,  bankers, 
physicians,  arrd  business  irren  — represerrtatives  frorrr 
nearly  all  the  househoids  of  the  place.  The  prayer 
ended,  the  rvomen  rise  from  their  knees,  and  begin,  in  a 
low  voice,  some  sweet  and  familiar  hymn,  that  brings 
back  to  the  heart  of  the  looker-on  the  loirg-forgotten 
influences  of  childhood.  Tears  may  be  seen  in  the  eyes 
of  red-rrosed  and  hard-hearted  rnerr,  supposed  to  be  loirg 
since  past  feeling.  Passers-by  lift  their  hats  and  step 
softly.  Conversation  is  in  subdued  tones,  and  a sympa- 
thetic interest  is  depicted  on  every  face.  Then  folloAv 
another  subdued  prayer  and  a song,  at  the  close  of  which 
a fresh  relay  of  women  comes  up,  and  the  first  ones 
retire  to  the  residence  of  an  honored  citizen,  close  at 
hand,  where  a lunch  is  sjiread  for  their  refreshment. 
Soon  it  is  their  turn  to  resume  their  pra3dng  and  sing- 
ing ; and  so  the  siege  is  kept  up,  from  morning  till  night, 
and  day  after  day^  with  little  variation  in  method  or 
incidents. 

Meanwhile  the  saloons  had  not  been  neglected.  There 
was  one  kept  by  Joseph  Lance,  and  known  as  the  “Lava 
Bed  ” ^ doubtless  a reminiscence  of  the  Modoc  war. 
This  was  the  first  to  yield ; but  as  Joe  had  been  arrested 
for  the  illegal  sale  of  liquor,  and  tivo  formidable  indict- 
ments were  hanging  over  him-  like  a nightmare,  his  sur- 
render was  not  considered  as  a clear  victory.  But  the 
establishment  was  closed  forever,  and  the  late  proprie- 
tor embarked  on.  a more  respectable  career  as  a fish- 
dealer.  His  fish  v/ere  known  as  “ cold-water  fish,”  and 
found  read}"  sale. 

Schwartz  and  Koch  capitulated  after  a siege  of  two 
weeks,  and  shipped  their  liquors  back  to  Cincinnati. 


326 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


Anxious  to  earn- an  honest  penny,  they  made  an  auction 
of  the  various  articles  which  comprised  the  • outfit  of 
their  saloons,  and  thus  afforded  the  temperance  ladies 
an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  professed  friendship 
in  dollars  and  cents.  It  was  an  amusing  sight  to  see 
the  crowd  of  pious  sisters  at  tMe  sale,  running  up  old 
decanters,  beer  mugs,  tumblers,  and  bottles,  to  fabulous 
prices,  and  then  lugging  home  the  troiDhies  with  an  air 
of  joyful  pride  ! They  would  not  pay  the  saloon  keep- 
ers for  their  stock  of  hquors,  or  loss  of  business,  but 
when  the  whole  was  voluntarily  abandoned,  they  were 
eager  to  help  the  men  who  suddenly  found  themselves 
without  an  occupation. 

Koch  .was  formerlj’-  a shoemaker  by  trade,  and  no 
sooner  had  he  resumed  his  old  occupation  than  his  fair 
customers  fairly  overwhelmed  him  with  orders  for  shoes. 
Old  dealers,  who  found  their  trade  thereby  so  much 
diminished,  almost  wished  they  had  been  saloon  keepers 
too,  so  they  might  have  passed  through  the  profitable 
experience  of  surrendering.  Schwartz  bought  a stock 
of  groceries,  and  found  a good  run  of  patronage  from 
the  start.  He  now  measures  out  molasses  and  vinegar 
in  the  place  of  brandy  and  gin,  and  has  neither  the  fear 
of  the  Adair  law  nor  of  praying  women  before  his 
eyes. 

The  war  upon  the  saloons  made  slow  but  certain 
progress.  By  the  30th  of  January  five  saloons  and  three 
drug  stores  had  jdelded,  and  about  the  same  number  of 
saloons  and  one  drug  store  remained.  The  following 
amusing  “ inside  view  ” of  one  of  these  saloon  visits 
appeared  in  a Cincinnati  paper.  It  was  given  b}'  a 
young  blood  who  was  there.  “ He  and  half  a dozen 
others,  who  had  been  out  of  town,  and  did  not  know 
what  was  going  on,  had  ranged  themselves  in  the  fa- 
miliar semicircle  before  the  bar  and  had  their  di'inks 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EBJMEDY.  327 

ready  and  cigars  prepared  for  the  match,  when  the 
rustle  of  women’s  wear  attracted  their  attention,  and 
looking  up  they  saw  what  they  thought  a crowd  of  a 
thousand  ladies  entering.  One  youth  saw  among  them 
liis  mother  and  sister,  another  had  two  cousins  in  the 
invading  host,  and  a still  more  unfortunate  I'ecognized 
his  intended  mother-in-law  ! Had  the  invisible  prince 
of  the  pantomime  touched  them  with  - his  magic  wand, 
converting  all  to  statues,  the  tableau  could  not  have 
been  more  impressive.  For  one  full  minute  they  stood 
as  if  turned  to  stone  ; then  a slight  motion  was  evident, 
and  lager  beer  and  brandy  smash  descended  slowl}''  to 
the  counter,  while  cigars  drojoped  nnlighted  from  nerve- 
less fingers.  Happily,  at  this  juncture  the  ladies  struck 
up  — 

“ 0,  do  not  be  discouraged, 

For  Jesus  is  your  friend.” 

It  made  a diversion,  and  the  party  escaped  to  the 
street,  “ scared  out  of  a year’s  growth.” 

Leaving  the  ladies  praying  with  the  remaining  saloons 
and  the  invincible  Dunn,  we  must  follow,  the  movement 
to  Washington  Court  House,  Avhere  it  had  been  raging 
all  this  time  with  even  more  force,  and  with  much  great- 
er success.  The  work  was  inaugurated  in  Hillsboro’  on 
the  day  before  Christmas.  From  there  Dio  Lewis  went 
to  Washington,  the  county  seat  of  Fayette  County,  where 
he  delivered  his  lecture  on  “ Our  Girls”  the  same  even- 
ing. During  the  course  of  his  lecture  he  told  his 
hearers  he  would  like  to  see  them  all,  Christmas  morn- 
ing, and  talk  to  them  a little  on  the  subject  of  temper- 
ance. Quite  an  audience  was  on  hand  at  the  appointed 
time,  and  after  some  general  arguments,  the  doctor 
startled  them  with  his  prayer  plan,  substantially  as  be- 
fore stated. 

The  plan  was  taken  hold  of  by  the  ladies,  as  if  it  was 


328 


INTEMPBEANCE, 


the  very  thing  they  had  so  long  been  waiting  for.  No 
time  was  lost.  An  organization  was  formed,  petitions 
and  pledges  prepared,  and  the  very  next  day  the  ladies, 
to  the  number  of  sixty,  marched.  They  had  ten  saloons 
and  three  drug  stores  to  deal  with,  but  before  they 
rested,  the  whole  circuit  had  been  made.  Tliey  were 
treated  by  the  astonished  saloon  keepers  with  some 
show  of  respect,  until  they  came  to  the  concern  con- 
ducted by  Peter  Scheirman  and  bis  devoted  spouse. 
They  were  very  much  enraged  with  the  interference 
with  their  rights  as  American  citizens  under  the  consti- 
tution, declaration  of  independence,  and  star-spangled 
banner,  and  in  broken  and  excited  Enghsh  threatened 
the  most  terrible  things  if  the  women  came  again.  But 
they  went  again  and  again,  without  suffering  any  serious 
consequences,  until  at  last  Peter  and  Iris  frau  saw  the 
matter  in  a different  light.  The  band  increased  daily 
in  numbers  and  zeal.  Bad  weather  and  ill  treatment 
had  no  effect  but  to  inspire  them  with  new  energy.  In 
a week  the  procession  had  more  than  doubled  in  size. 
Composed  as  it  was  of  the  best  Christian  women  of  the 
town,  it  began  to  Inive  a moral  power  which  the  liquor 
sellers,  sneer  or  argue  as  they  might,  could  not  stand 
up  against.  From  the  first  the  ladies  exhibited  that 
rare  discrimination  and  judgment  in  their  movements 
which  have  characterized  the  whole  campaign.  Under 
no  circumstances  did  they  allow  themselves  to  lose  their 
temper.  Generally  they  avoided  all  argument  with 
stubborn  saloon  keepers,  and  asked  permission  before 
they  began  a prayer  meeting  upon  the  premises.  It  was 
the  usual  programme  to  enter  a saloon,  explain  to  the 
proprietor  briefly  their  mission,  present  him  with  the 
dealer’s  pledge,  and  if  he  refused  to  sign  it,  some  one 
led  in  prayer,  a hymn  was  sung,  and  he  was  personally 
entreated  to  abandon  his  business.  If  all  failed,  these 


ITS  ASPECT  AiO)  ITS  EEjtfEDT. 


329 


visits  were  renewed  from  day  to  day.  Entreaties  were 
persistently  pressed  upon  him.  His  customers  dwindled 
down  to  a few  of  the  most  wretched  description.  Per- 
haps a few  indictments  were  secured  against  him,  in  case, 
any  persuasion  of  that  kind  should  he  needed.  The 
saloon  keeper,  finding  himself  cut  off.  from  respectable . 
society  in  the  village,  with  an  unprofitable  business 
on  his  hands,  and  conscious  that  he  was  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  prosecuted  for  violation  of  the  law,  gener- 
ally concluded,  after  a few  days  of  resistance,  that  the 
easiest  way  out  of  the  whole  difficulty  was  to  quit,  and 
promise  never  to  sell  another  drop. 

So  great  was  the  success  of  the  Washington  ladies 
that,  at  the  end  of  the  first  week,  half  the  dram  shops 
in  the  place  had  been  closed  up.  The  men  that  still 
held  out  shut  their  doors  in  the  face  of  the  ladies,  and 
tried  to  escape  the  influence  of  the  prajmrs  and  hymns. 
Offers  were  made  to  compromise  or  sell  out.  One  of  the 
so-called  druggists,  Avho  had  begun  in  trade  eight  years 
before,  with  a keg  of  sour  beer  and  a gallon  of  whiskey 
bought  on  credit,  and  who  had  built  up  a profitable  busi- 
ness belnnd  jars  labelled  drugs,  offered  to  give  up  his 
whole  stock  to  the  women  for  two  thousand  dollars ; 
but  his  proposition  was  not  entertained  for  a moment. 
They  kept  steadily  on,  and  in  four  days  more  every 
saloon  keeper  in  the  corporate  limits  of  Washington  had 
quit  the  business,  and  every  druggist  signed  the  pledge 
to  sell  no  liquor  for  a beverage.  The  siege  had  lasted 
eleA^en  days,  and  in  that  time  eleven  saloons  and  three 
drug  stores  had  capitulated.  It  was  a remarkable  vic- 
tory, and  none  were  more  surprised  at  it  than  the  tem- 
perance workers  themselves.  They  were  not  expecting 
such  speedy  results.  Old  topers  and  gay  gentlemen  of 
leisure  had  suddenly  found  themselves  without  their’ 
customary  stimulants  or  places  of  resort,  and  a'howl  of 


330 


ESTTElIPEEAIjfCB, 


anguish  went  up  from  them  that  the  -good  people  had 
waited  long  to  hear. 

“Why,”  one  old,  gray -haired  guzzler  was  overheard 
to  say,  — “ why,  man,  you’ll  ruin  your  town  with  your 
nonsense  about  temperance,  shutting  up  saloons,  and  all 
that  sort  of  stuff.  Look  here,”  he  continued,  lajung  the 
dirty  forefinger  of  his  left  hand  impressively  upon  the 
dirty  palm  of  his  right,  — “ look  here  ; half  the  money 
that  comes  to  your  town  comes  through  the  saloons  ; half 
of  the  people  of  your  town  live  on  that  money.  Cut  off 
that  money,  and  how  are  they  going  to  live  ? Answer 
me  that ; how  are  they  going  to  live  ? I’ve  traded  in 
this  town  now  goin’  on  forty  year,  and-  I’m  blov.-ed  if  I 
don't  trade  in  Wilmington  from  this  time  on  — from 
this  time  on,  sir.  And  there’s  plenty  more  like  me.” 

It  did  not  enter  into  his  calculation  .that  Wilmington, 
in  a few  days,  was  to  be  as  dry  as  Waslfington. 

But  the  work  of  the  women  was  by  no  means  fin- 
ished. Just  outside  the  village  limits  two  establish- 
ments were  having  a monopoly  of  the  trade.  Those 
whose  appetite  for  stimulants  could  not  be  subdued, 
were  subjected  to  the  necessity  of  making  regular  excur- 
sions to  these  places  for  their  daily  drinks.  It  was  felt 
that  these  must  be  suppressed,  or  the  work  would  be 
incomplete.  But  before  they  were  ready  to  make  an  ad- 
vance upon  Beck  and  Sullivan,  a new  enemy  faced  them 
in  their  very  midst.  One  Slater  had  set  up  a saloon,  and 
avowed  his  intention  to  fight  the  women  as  long'  as  they 
desired.  His  lawyer  and  priest  had  fortified  him  with 
the  doctrine  that  whiskey  selling  was  a legitimate  busi- 
ness under  the  laws  of  the  state,  and  he  would  be  pro- 
tected in  it.  But  no  sooner  had  he  opened  his  door 
than  the  women  were  with  him ; and  they  staid  with 
him.  Their  prayers  and  persuasions  had  no  effect 
whatever,  and  he  grew  more  violent  every  day.  His 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


331 


wickedness  became  so  notorious,  that  he  was  commonly 
knoAvn  as  the  “ John  Allen  ” of  Washington.  One  day 
he  bethought  himself  of  the  plan  of  freezing  the  women 
out.  He  allowed  his  fire  to  go  out,  opened  the  windows 
and  doors,  and  wet  the  floor  down  with  water  until  it 
stood  in  j)ools.  It  was  a bitter  cold  January  day,  and 
the  atmosphere  of  the  place  was  almost  unendurable. 
But  the  marshal  of  the  village  kept  up  a huge  fire  in 
the  street ; and  the  inward  fires  of  zeal  made  them 
proof  against  the  weather. 

But  the  ladies  ivere  as  fertile  in  devices  as  their  wily 
enemy.  Mr.  Slater  Avas  surprised  one  morning  to  find 
before  his  door  a small  portable  building,  hastily  con- 
structed of  boards,  supplied  Avith  a stove  and  seats,  and 
looking  as  though  it  had  come  to  stay.  The  side  facing 
his  saloon  was  open,  and  yaAvned  before  him  like  an 
immense  mortar,  ready  to  be  discharged  and  blow  his 
frail  shanty  into  atoms.  But  it  Avas,  probably,  the  most 
lAeaceful  engine  of  Avar  ever  constructed.  This  peculiar 
institution  came  to  be  knoAvn  as  the  “ Tabernacle,”  pos- 
sibly oAving  to  its  resemblance  to  the  structure  Avhich 
the  Israelites  carried  with  them  through  the  wilderness  ; 
and  that  name  has  clung  to  it,  Avherever  it  has  appeared, 
throughout  the  whole  campaign.  Comfortably  seated 
in  this,  the  besieging  party  continued  singing  and  pray- 
ing during  the  entire  day,  and  until  late  at  night.  But 
still  tlie  obstinate  saloonist  held  out.  It  Avas  then  dis- 
covered that  the  building  belonged  to  another  party 
than  the  occupant,  and  the  Avomen  resolved  to  buy  the 
building  out  of  his  hands.  But  he  threatened  to  start 
again  Avithin  two  hours  in  some  other  locality.  At  last, 
when  all  efforts  at  “ moral  suasion  ” had  jiroved  ineffec- 
tive, a stronger  argument  was  called  into  use.  A case 
was  made  out  against  him  under  the  Adair  law,  and  he 
was  brought  to  terms  about  the  middle  of  January. 


332 


INTEMPEEAXCE, 


Again  the  village  proper  was  free.  But  there  still 
remained  the  beer  hall  of  Charlie  Beck,  about  half  a 
mile  out,  and  the  wayside  saloon  of  James  Sullivan, ’still 
farther  away.  To  these  the  women  turned  their  prayer- 
ful attention.  Beck  was  one  of  those  good-natured,  yet 
stubborn  and  excitable  members  of  the  German  race, 
who  look  upon  beer  drinking  as  an  essential  element  in 
man’s  social  and  moral  nature,  and  think  everybody  a 
Puritan  or  fanatic  who  holds  different  views.  His  place 
looked  more  like  a countiy  school-house  than  a saloon. 
It  stood  back  from  the  road,  and  was  surrounded  by 
well-arranged  grounds.  Carriages  Avere  furnished  the 
ladies,' free  of  charge,  from  the  temperance  lively  stable 
of  Collins  & Bitzer,  and  in  these  the  band  made  daily 
visits  to  Beck’s.  After  a while  Beck,  v’ho  kept  a sharp 
lookout,  Avhen  he  saw  the  ladies  coming,  locked  his 
door,  and  fled  to  his  residence  close  at  hand.  It  was 
during  one  of  these  intervals  that  a Cincinnati  reporter 
came  reconnoitring  about  the  place.  There  were  no 
Vvomeu  around,  but  the  door  Avas  locked,  and  the  cau- 
tious Teuton  had  fled.  After  some  j)ouudiug  at  the 
door,  the  folloAviug  response  aa’us  elicited  from  the  resi- 
dence close  at  hand : — 

“ Hello,  mein  freund  ; Amt  you  A'ant,  eh  ? ” 

The  man  Avith  a nose  for  news  explained  his  errand, 
whereupon  Beck  broke  out  with,  — 

“ I got  no  A’itnesses.  Dem  Admens  dey  set  up  a shob 
on  me.  But  jmu  don’t  bin  a ’bitual  troonkard,  eh  ? 
No,  you  don’t  look  like  him.  Yal,  goom  in,  goom  in. 
Yat  you  vant  — beer  or  Adne  ? I dells  you  dem  Admins 
is  shoost  aAvful.  Py  shinks,  dey  build  a house  right  in 
de  shtreet,  und  stay  mit  a man  all  day  singin,  und  oder 
foolishness.  But  dej''  don’t  git  in  here  once  agin, 
already.” 

It  seems  that  some  one  had  been  trying  to  entrap  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


333 


cunning  beer  vender,  by  coming  to  buy  liquor  with  the 
intention  of  going  away  to  swear  to  it,  and  thus  make 
out  a case  against  him  under  the  Adair  law.  He  was 
naturally,  therefore,  very  suspicious  of  strangers,  and 
was  even  led  to  look  with  distrust  upon  some  of  his  old 
and  faithful  customers.  These  were  trying  times,  and 
his  beery  brain  was  racked  with  anxiety  and  excite- 
ment. 

“You  bin  a reborter  ? Veil,  I shoust  likes  to  see  a 
goot  man  here  von  der  Enguirer  von  Cincinnati.  Anod- 
er  man  yesterday  goom  mit  dem  vimins  ; I tells  zem 
all,  ‘ You  shoust  go  ouat ; 3^11  got  no  peesness  here.’ 
And  den  he  puts  his  hand  so,  in  his  pusom,  for  a peestol, 
und  zay,  ‘ You  tooch  dem  vimen,  I put  3-011  vare  3mu 
don’t  zell  beer  an3''  more,  already.’  ” 

During  this  running  fire  of  broken  English,  he  kept 
moving  from  one  window  to  the  other,  expecting  every 
moment  that  the  dreaded  invaders  would  heave  in  sight. 

“ Dem  fellers  in  town,  dey  shkinned  out  and  left  me 
alone,”  he  complained  bitterly.  “But  I’ll  never  shtop 
for  dem  vimin.  I sell  vine,  beer,  und  cigars,  und  I 
don’t  got  any  trunken  men  in  mein  house.” 

According!}'-,  to  show  his  contempt  for  the  women. 
Beck  called  in  his  faithful  adherents,  together  with  his 
lawyer,  and  spent  most  of  the  night  in  a drunken  pow- 
Avow  which  went  a little  be3mnd  any  of  his  former 
achievements  in  that  line.  The  shouts  of  the  revellers 
could  be  heard  during  the  night  iii  the  distant  village, 
and  in  the  morning  a reminiscence  of  the  entertainment 
was  found  in  the  form  of  a man  dead  drunk  upon  a 
manure  pile  near  the  lAery  stable. 

This  gave  fresh  energy  to  the  Avomeh,  and  they  were 
on  the  war-path  early  next  morning.  Seeing  them  com- 
ing in  larger  numbers  and  Avith  more  determined  mien 
than  before.  Beck  tore  off  to  the  toAvn,  whence  he  soon 


334 


rNTEMPEEAJSrCE, 


returned  with  his  “gounsel,  to  see  A^eu  he  got  no  more 
a7iy  right  to  his  own  property.” 

The  scene  grew  exciting.  The  lawyer  and  reporter 
took  up  convenient  positions  on  the  fence.  The  ladies 
filled  up  the  door,  and  extended  away  to  the  right.  By- 
standers stood  in  knots  a few  yards  away,  while  rushing 
wildly  about  among  them  all  was  the  excited  Beck. 
Fervent  prayers  were  offered  for  the  blessing  of  God  on 
the  temperance  cause  generally,  on  that  place  in  partic- 
ular, on  Beck  and  his  household,  — all  who  loA'ed  him, 
— and  on  the  Avomen  engaged  in  the  difficult  and  deli- 
cate task  before  them.  Appropriate  hymns  Avere  sung 
in  the  intervals,  and  the  Avomen  appeared  to  be  getting 
happy  in  about  the  same  ratio  that  Beck  was  groAving 
miserable,  Avhen  at  length,  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of 
the  songs,  the  lawyer  slid  doAvn  from  his  perch  on  the 
fence,  advanced  towards  the  ladies,  and  adtbessed  to 
them  the  following  speech  : — 

“Now,  ladies,  I have  a word  to  say  before  this  per- 
formance goes  any  farther.  IMr.  Beck  has  employed 
me  as  his  attorney.  He  cannot  speak  good  English,  and 
I speak  for  him  here.  He  is  engaged  in  a legitimate 
business,  and  3-0U  are  trespassers  on  his  property  and 
rights.  If  this  thing  is  carried  any  farther,  you  Avill  be 
called  to  account  in  the  court,  and  I can  assure  you  the 
court  Avill  sustain  the  man.  He  has  talketl  Avith  you  all 
he  desires  to.  He  does  not  Avant  to  put  you  out  forci- 
bly ; that  Avould  be  unmanly,  and  he  does  not  Avish  to 
act  rudely.  But  he  tells  you  to  go.  As  his  attorney 
I noAv  Avarn  you  to  desist  from  any  further  annoyance.” 

Again  the  ladies  sang,  — 

“My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard; 

Ten  thousand  foes  arise,”  — 

and  a fervent  prayer  was  immediately  offered  for  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  335 

lawyer  and  liis  client.  It  was  decided  to  retire  peacea- 
bly from  the  premises  ; but  a man  who  owned  the  adjoin- 
ing lot  was  friendly  to  the  cause,  and  invited  them  to 
establish  their  “ Tabernacle  ” there,  where  it  would  be 
almost  as  effective  as  before  the  very  door  of  the  saloon. 
Then  the  siege  of  prayer  and  song  was  resumed.  Strong 
reflectors  were  placed  so  as  to  illuminate  the  entrance 
to  the  beer  garden.  Guards  Avere  constantly  on  hand, 
till  late  at  night,  and  few  Avere  found  bold  enough  to 
face  the  lanterns  for  a glass  of  beer.  Beck’s  business 
was  ruined,  and  he  and  his  lawyer  felt  that  something 
had  to  be  done.  Application  was  made  for  a temporary 
injunction,  and  after  tAvo  Aveeks’  delay  it  Avas  granted. 
The  Tabernacle  disappeared,  the  daily  visits  were 
stopped,  and  peace  once  more  reigned  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Charlie  Beck’s  beer  garden. 

But  the  law  proved  a double-edged  SAVord.  Hitherto 
the  temperance  Avorkers  had  carefully  refrained  from 
any  ajipeal  to  legal  force ; but  Avhen  they  found  it 
employed  against  them  they  no  longer  hesitated.  The 
Adair  law  had  been-  violated  by  both  Beck  and  Sullivan 
scores' of  times  every  Aveek,  and  it  did  not  take  long  to 
make  out  strong  cases  against  them.  Sullivan  yielded 
at  once,  and  soon  after  Beck  ran  up  the  Avhite  flag,  and 
surrendered. 

At  last  Washington  Court  House  was  free  ! Not  a 
drop  of  spirituous  or  malt  liquor  could  be  bought  for 
miles  about.  It  was  the  first,  great  victory  of  the  cam- 
paign, — the  first  demonstration  of  the  poAver  of  Avomen 
to  do  what  men,  Avith  fifty  years  of  legislation,  had 
failed  to  accomplish.  The  bells  of  the  toAvn  rang  out 
with  joy.  Great  excitement  prevailed,  and  the  chief 
business  for  a few  days  Avas  the  interchange  of  congrat- 
ulations. 

But  the  ladies  realized  that  their  work  was  not  done. 


336 


LN'TEMPEKAISrCE, 


The  nail  so  well  driven  must  be  clinched.  Their  cam- 
paign would  be  but  a' poor  success  if  the  results  were 
not  made  permanent.  Accordingly  they  devoted  their 
energies  to  the  circulation  of  the  different  kind  of 
pledges,  and  by  continuing  the  daily  mass  meetings  and 
prayer  meetings,  endeavored  to  mould  the  excited  pub- 
lic sentiment  into  definite  and  permanent  shape.  The 
personal  pledge  rvas  pushed  with  special  industry,  and 
nearly  the  whole  population  of  the  place  added  to  the 
roll  of  names. 

The  following  are  the  forms  of  the  various  pledges, 
which  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  used  hi  other 
towns,  throughout  the  whole  movement : — 

“ We,  the  undersigned,  druggists  of , hereby 

pledge  ourselves,  upon  our  honor  as  business  men,  that 
from  this  date  we  will  under  no  circumstances  sell  or 
give  away,  or  allow  to  be  sold  or  given  away  by  any  of 
our  agents  or  employes,  any  alcoholic  or  intoxicating 
liquors,  wine,  beer,  or  ale,  except  upon  satisfactory  evi- 
dence that  the  liquors  are  to  be  used  for  medicinal  or 
mechanical  purposes.” 

“ We,  the  undersigned,  property  holders  in , 

pledge  ourselves,  upon  our  honor,  not  to  let  or  lease  oin- 
preinises  (or  premises  for  which  we  are  agents)  in  this 
city,  or  pennit  them  to  be  used  or  occupied,  for  the  sale 
or  dispensing  in  any  way  of  spirituous  liquors,  vine, 
beer,  or  ale,  to  be  used  as  a beverage.” 

“ We  hereby  pledge  ourselves,  upon  efur  honor,  not  to 
sell,  furnish,-  dr  give  away,  or  allow  to  be  sold  or  given 
awaj''  by  any  agent  or  employe  of  ours,  either  bj  retail 
or  wholesale,  any  spirituous  liquors,  wine,  beer,  or  ale, 
except  for  medicinal  or  mechanical  purposes. 

.“We,  the  undersigned,  physicians  of  , npon^ 

our  honor  as  professional  men,  promise  hereby  not  to 
prescribe  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  \vine,  beer,  or  ale, 
only  in  case  of  absolute  necessity.’ 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  837 

“ We,  the  imdersignecl,  do  solemnly  promise  that  we 
will  neither  make,  buy,  sell,  nor  use  as  a beverage,  any 
spirituous  or  malt  liquors,  wine,  or  fermented  cider  ; and 
that,  in  all  honorable  ways,  we  will  discountenance  the 
use  of  the  same  by  others.” 

The  following  is  the  appeal  presented  by  the  ladies  to 
the  liquor  seller  : — 

“ Knowing,  as  you  do,  the  fearful  effects  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks,  we,  the  women  of  Washington,  after  earnest 
prayer  and  deliberation,  have  decided  to  appeal  to  you 
to  desist  from  this  ruinous  traffic,  that  our  husbands, 
brothers,  and  especially  our  sons,  be  no  longer  exposed 
to  this  terrible  temptation,  and  that  we  may  no  longer 
see  them  led  into  those  paths  which  go  down  to  sin,  and 
bring  both  soul  and  body  to  destruction.  We  appeal  to 
the  better  instincts  of  your  hearts,  in  the  name  of  deso- 
lated homes,  blasted  hopes,  ruined  lives,  Avidowed  hearts, 
for  the  honor  of  our  community,  for  our ' prosperity,  for 
our  happiness,  for  our  good  nam.e  as  a town,  in  the  name 
of  God,  who  will  judge  you  as  well  as  ourselves,  for  the 
sake  of  your  souls,  which  are  to  be  saved  or  lost,  we 
beg,  we  implore  you,  to  cleanse  yourselves  from  this 
heinous  sin,  and  place  yourselves  in  the  ranks  of  those 
AAdio  are  striving  to  elevate  and  ennoble  themselves  and 
their  fellow-men ; and  to  this  we  ask  you  to  pledge 
yourselves.”  • 

The . following  resolution,  adopted  by  the  Hillsboro’ 
ladies,  will  show  what  they  thought  of  liquor  on  their 
OAvn  sideboards,  or  in  their  mince-pies  and  puddings : — 

“ Whereas  .it  is  written,  ‘ Be  ye  .clean  that  bear  the 
vessels *of  the  Lord,’  therefore 

“ Resolved,  That  any  woman  connected  with  this  Vis- 
iting Committee  who  has  Avine  or  brandy,  or  other  alco- 
holic drinks,  in  her  house,  to  be  used  for  culinary  pur- 
poses, be  requested  to  dispose  of  the  same  immediately, 
and  hereafter  to  discontinue  and  discourage  such  use.” 


338 


INTEISrPBEAXCE, 


Washington  was  destined  to  have  one  more  hout  with 
whiskey  before  it  was  finally  and  effectually  squelched. 
Some  of  the  old  soakers,  Avho  began  to  grow  exceedingly 
dry,  opened  communication  with  one  Charles  Passmore, 
of  Cincinnati.  , They  represented  to  him  that  there  was 
a fine  opening  there  for  a young  man  with  a few  kegs 
of  beer  and  casks  of  liquor.  He  would  have  no  record 
by  which  they  could  proceed  against  him  under  the 
Adair  law,  and  could  enjoy  an  enthe  monopoly  of  the 
trade.  Viewed  from  the  Cincinnati  stand-point,  it 
looked  absurd  that  a few  pfaj'ing  women  could  afford 
any  serious  obstacle  to  a man  xvith  any  backbone ; and 
Mr.  Passmore  came  on  with  his  kegs.  A room  was  se- 
cured, and  the  hopeful  saloonist  was  about  tapping  his 
first  barrel,  when  he  was  surprised  by  a call  from  a hun- 
dred ladies  or  more.  The  alarm-bells  had  been  sounded, 
and  the  women  were  ready  to  march  on  the  instant. 
After  a few  prayers  and  songs,  the  astonished  Cincinna- 
tian ventured  to  inquire  how  long  they  proposed  to 
stay. 

“ That  depends  entirely  upon  yourself,  was  the 
reply.  “We  have  come  to  stay- with  you  till  you 
promise  never  to  sell  another  glass  of  liquor  in  this 
place.” 

“ That  puts  a different  face  on  the  matter,”  thought 
Mr.  P.,  and  the  next  day  the  kegs  were  re-shipped  to 
Cincinnati,  never  having  been  opened,  klr.  Passmore 
followed  them,  and  from  that  time  Washington  has  en- 
joyed perfect  immunity  from  saloon-keepers,  and  lived 
on  the  vii’tuous  principle  of  total  abstinence. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEJMEDY. 


839 


CHAPTER  XX. 

MARVELLOUS  SPREAD  OF  THE  MOVEMENT.  — SUDDEN  REDEMPTION  OP 
WILMINGTON. — THE  EPIDEMIC  IN  GREENFIELD. — THE  FAMOUS  SIEGE 
OF  VAN  PELT  AT  NEW  VIENNA. — HIS  WICKEDNESS  AND  HIS  SURREN- 
DER. — THE  GLOOMY  HISTORY  OP  MORROW  A GOOD  TEMPERANCE 
TRACT.  — ABOUT  SELLING  CORN  TO  DISTILLERS.  — A WAYNESVILLB 
PRAYER  MEETING  REPRODUCED.  — A FORTY-NINE  DAYS’  SIEGE  AT 
CORWIN. 

Some  idea  of  the  marvellous  rapidity  with  which  this 
movement  began  to  spread  may  be  had  from  the  fact 
that,  within  two  weeks  from  the  day  it  was  first  inaugu- 
rated at  Hillsboro’,  three  or  four  of  the  leading  counties 
in  Southern  Ohio  were  taken  by  storm.  As  fast  as  the 
news  could  be  carried  to  neighboring  towns,  they  caught 
the  spirit,  and  began  the  crusade  of  prayer  and  song. 
The  whole  section  of  country  seemed  ripe  for  the  move- 
ment. Dio  Lewis  said  it  was  the  first  soil  he  had  found 
where  his  temperance  plant  would  grow.  The  public 
press,  which  had  hitherto  contained  but  meagre  reports 
of  the  movement,  said  that  it  was  destined  to  be  the 
sensation  of  the  day;  special  correspondents  were  de- 
spatched to  the  scene,  and  the  daily  reports  crept  up 
from  paragraphs  into  columns,  and  from  columns  to 
pages.  The  outside  world  began  to  grow  interested. 
Those  who  had  regarded  the  movement  as  the  fleeting 
excitement  of  an  hour  now  began  to  see  in  it  a bright 
promise  of  hope.  And  as  the  lovers  of  temperance  and 
order  grew  interested,  the  liquor  men,  from  distiller 
down  to  the  lowest  whiskey  seller,  grew  alarmed.  A 

21 


340 


EJ  TEINIPEE,  AlfCE, 


contemptuous  sneer  was  all  the  attention  paid  to  the 
matter  for  a time  ; but  as  the  work  went  on,  and  its 
strength  became  more  apparent,  the  liquor  dealers  com- 
menced to  organize  for  a desperate  resistance. 

Wilmington  is  the  thriving  county  seat  of  Clinton 
County,  adjoining  Fayette.  On  the  4th  of  January,  ten 
saloons  and  four  drug  stores  were  driving  a brisk  trade 
in  drinks  that  intoxicate.  On  the.  5th,  the  respectable 
people  of  the  town  came  together  to  talk  the  matter 
over.  They  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  things  going  on 
in  the  adjoining  county,  and  decided  on  the  spot  to 
adopt  the  same  plan.  Two  hundred  women,  the  most 
esteemed  in  the  city,  fell  into  the  ranks,  and  among 
them  were  a number  whose  remarkable  talent  and  en- 
ergy soOn  gave  them  a reputation  beyond  the  limits  of 
their  own  town.  Mrs.  Runyan,  Mrs.  Hadley,  and  others 
will  long  be  remembered  for  their  faithful  service  at 
home,  and  missionary  labors  abroad.  The  same  plan 
was  pursued  as  at  Washington;  and  so  vigorously  was 
it  carried  on  that  within  four  days  all  the  di-uggists  had 
signed,  and  at  the  end  of  ten  days  the  news  was  tele- 
graphed abroad  that  every  saloon  had  surrendered,  and 
that  no  liquor  could  be  bought  in  the  town. 

The  Saturday  which  closed  the  first  week  was  a day 
which  the  people  of  Wilmington  wiU.  not  soon  forget. 
Crowds  from  the  country  had  heard  of  the  excitement, 
tmd  flocked  in  to  see  what  was  going  on.  The  streets 
Avere  filled.  At  ten  o’clock  the  bells  announced  that  the 
ladies  had  begun  their  march.  They  went  in  eight  par- 
ties, numbering  from  twenty  to  thirty  each.  These 
squads  relieved  each  other  at  the  tap  of  a bell,  and  thus 
there  was  a band  at  every  saloon  in  town  during  the 
whole  day.  The  solemn  regularity  and  clock-hke  pre- 
cision which  characterized  their  movements  would  have 
done  credit  to  a well-drilled  military  brigade.  The  air 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


341 


was  cold  and  raw,  and  the  streets  were  filled  with  slush ; 
but  the  women  seemed  perfectly  oblivious  to  such  trifles. 
Their  zeal  was  rewarded.  At  night  two  more  of  the 
saloon  kee'pers  signed  the  pledge,  and  shipped  their 
liquors  back  to  Cincinnati,  and  on  Monday  and  Tuesday 
the  remainder  followed  their  example.  The  same  car 
which  bore  the  liquors  back  was  fllled  with  similar 
freight  from  Washington  Court  House. 

Ten  days  of  hard  fighting,  and  Wilmington  was  re- 
deemed from  whiskey.  And  from  that  day  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  there  has  not  been  even  a keg  of  beer  on  tap 
in  the  city.  Some  confirmed  soakers  have,  at  a great 
outlay  of  time  and  money,  gone  to  distant  towns,  and 
stealthily,  lugged  home  long  black  bottles  of  “ tonics  ” 
and  “blood  purifiers,”  but  whiskey  selling  as  a business 
has  ceased.  A few  amusing  attempts  have  been  made 
to  smuggle  into  town,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  a 
solitary  half  barrel  of  Cincinnati  beer  ; but  the  attempts 
proved  wretched  failures.  In  one  instance,  the  keg  was 
dropped  from  the  train  half  a mile  out  of  town,  and  sur- 
reptitiously hustled  off  to  a haystack.  But  the  temper- 
ance folks  got  on  the  scent,  and  the  unfortunate  keg  was 
hunted  down  as  if  it  had  been  so  many  gallons  of  pesti- 
lence. Like  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  now  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  and  again  adorned  the  Is- 
raelite camp.  Its  thirsty  guardians  had  a weary  strug- 
gle, and  were  not  rewarded  by  a single  drink. 

Greenfield,  in  Highland  County,  was  the  next  point 
struck  by  the  epidemic.  A temperance  league  was 
formed,  on  the  following  platform  : — 

“ First,  That  intemperance  is  the  great  evil  of  the 
times. 

“ Second,  That  it  is  especially  a great  evil  in  Green- 
field; and 

“ Third,-  That  it  can  be  eradicated  by  this  method,  if 
persistently  adhered  to.” 


342 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


One  hundred  and  ten  ladies  and  nearly  as  many  men 
joined  the  first  night.  As  in  the  other  towns,  the  league 
was  composed  of  the  best  people  in  the  place.  The  first 
thing  done  was  to  invite  all  the  hquor  sellers  to  meet  a 
committee,  and  thus  give  them  an  opportunity  to  yield 
gracefully  in  advance.  Out  of  the  fifteen  dealers  but 
one  came,  and  he  was  a druggist.  Next  day,  ninety-one 
women  formed  a solemn  phalanx,  and  marched  to  the 
saloons.  Coming  at  the  end  of  a series  of  rehgious  meet- 
ings, the  movement  in  Greenfield  took,  from  the  first,  a 
deeply  religious'  cast.  The  most  solemn  earnestness  per- 
vaded the  mass  meetings  at  the  churches,  and  seemed 
stamped  upon  the  countenances  of  the  women  on  the 
street.  They  were  generally  older  than  those  engaged 
in  the  work  in  Washhigton  and  Wfimington,  and,  from 
the  pathetic  words  and  sad,  care-worn  faces  of  many  of 
them,  it  was  evident  that  the  terrible  bhght  of  intem- 
perance had  rested  heavily  upon  their  own  homes.  It 
was  early  determined  not  to  promise  any  patronage  or 
threaten  any  prosecution  for  compliance  or  refusal,  but 
simply  to  appeal  to  the  better  nature  of  the  saloon 
keeper,  and  trust  to  the  power  of  prayer  to  move  him. 

On  the  22d  of  January,  it  was  reported  that  one  thii-d 
of  the  liquor  dealers  had  signed  the  pledge.  Rev.  A.  C. 
Hirst,  fresh  from  the  battle  at  Washington,  came  down 
to  exhort  and  encourage.  Crowded  mass  meetings  were 
held  every  evening  in  the  churches,  and  rej)orts  of  the 
day’s  proceedings  were  read.  These  reports  of  the  sec- 
retary, Miss  Kate  Dwyer,  so  well  reflect  the  sphit  of 
love  and  deep  devotion  vdth  which  the  work  was  carried 
on,  that  we  append  the  following  extract : — 

■ “ The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul ; 
the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  sim- 
ple. Knowing  that  aU.  our  wisdom  would  indeed  be  of 
God,  and  that  the  souls  of  all  men  are  in  his  hands,  we 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  343 

took  up  our  work  this  morning  again.  It  seemed  that 
the  very  presence  of  the  Lord  could  be  felt  as  we  walked 
softly  towards  the  house  of  Mr.  B.  Devout  prayers 
were  offered,  and  songs  were  sung,  then  the  pledge  pre- 
sented, but  still  the  prayers  and  entreaties  of  God’s  peo- 
ple in  his  behalf  were  unsuccessful.  As  slowly  and  sol- 
emnly the  procession  proceeded  from  there  to  Mr.  H.’s. 
He,  too,  heeded  not  the  appeal.  Again  finding  Mr.  P.’s 
door  locked,  we  made  known  the  requests  of  our  hearts 
to  God  in  prayer  and  song  from  the  sidewalk.  From 
there  we  directed  our  steps  to  the  saloon  of  Mr.  K.  He 
professes  to  sell  liquor  while  the  laws  of  the  land  give 
the  license.  God’s  will  and  laws  are  higher  than  those 
of  man,  and  he  can  enforce  them.  The  next  place  vis- 
ited was  Mr.  C.’s  drug  store.  He  professed  to  be  un- 
moved, either  temporally  or  spiritually.  The  Lord  look- 
eth  from  heaven.  He  beholdeth  all  the  sons  of  men  ; he 
fashioneth  their  hearts  alike  ; he  considereth  all  their 
works.  Our  prayer  is,  that  God  may  touch  tfiat  heart 
with  the  finger  of  his  love,  and  cause  it  to  melt  like  wax 
before  the  fire. 

“ In  the  afternoon  we  visited  Mr.  S.’s  establishment. 
He  being  absent,  we  presented  our  pledge  to  his  clerk, 
and  held  devotional  exercises  ; pledge  unsigned.  After 
that  we  went  to  both  the  saloons  of  Mr.  C.  He  is  also 
absent  from  town,  but  those  in  his  employ  refused  the 
pledge.  From  there  we  returned  to  the  church,  trusting 
in  God  for  the  fruit  of  our  day’s  labor.  On  entering  we 
found  glad  tidings  awaiting  us  — a druggist’s  pledge, 
with  the  signature  of  N.  Squier.  O,  how  great  is  thy 
goodness  which  thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear  thee, 
which  thou  hast  wrought  for  them  that  trust  in  thee  ! 
B'e  of  good  courage,  and  He  shall  strengthen  your  heart, 
all  ye  that  hope  in  the  Lord.” 

On  the  6th  of  February,  after  nearly  a month  of  un- 


344 


INTEMPEKAKCE, 


ceasing  work,  the  ladies  resolved  to  celebrate  their  vic- 
tories in  a grand  thanksgiving  jubilee.  H.  Thane  Miller 
and  W.  H.  Doane,  of  Cincinnati,  and  all  other  sympa- 
thizers, were  invited  to  be  present.  Business  was  sus- 
pended, and  the  schools  dismissed.  The  cause  for  the 
rejoicing  was  summed  up  in  the  following  brief  report, 
made  at  the  opening  of  the  meeting  : — 

Three  drug  stores  signed  the  druggists’  pledge. 

Five  saloons  signed  the  dealers’  pledge. 

Two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  persons 
signed  the  personal  pledge. 

One  of  the  unsubdued,  a druggist  named  C.  K.  Clin- 
ton, found  himself  getting  a notoriety  almost  equal  to 
that  of  Slater  or  Dunn.  His  drug  store  was  nothing 
more  thaii  a saloon  in  disguise.  He  received  the  ladies 
with  uniform  urbanity,  but  never  showed  the  least  dis- 
position to  relent.  It  was  his  custom  to  go  down  to  his 
“ den  of  iniquity  ” (as  he  proudly  called  it)  in  the  morn- 
ing, sweep  out,  build  a good  fire,  arrange  the  chairs  in 
order,  and  sit  down  with  his  paper  till  the  “ women 
came.”  That  ceremony  over,  he  was  ready  to  go  about 
his  accustomed  business  in  the  old  way.  Although  he 
never  allowed  himself  to  appear  disturbed,  the  words 
of  the  kind-hearted  and  soft-spoken  ladies  sometimes 
reached  a tender  spot. 

“ I thought  I had  sand  enough  in  my  craw,”  he  con- 
fessed to  a friend,  “ to  stand  anything  ; but  I’ll  be  con- 
founded if  the  prayers  of  these  women  don’t  somehow 
take  hold  of  a fellow.  It’s  enough  to  sink  a wooden 
man.” 

The  “ sand  in  his  craw  ” was  not  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  withstand  those  earnest  prayers  much  longer. 
He  held  out  until  his  -companions  dropped  off  one  by 
one  ; and  when  he  found  himself  at  last  alone,  the  focus 


FIRST  CALL,  OB  LAYIN’G  SIBGE  TO  VAN  PELT'S  SALOON. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


347 


of  the  prayers  and  entreaties  of  the  whole  female  com- 
munitj’-,  and  the  sole  object  of  daily  mass  meetings,  he 
ceased  his  stubborn  resistance,  and  Greenfield  was  added 
to  the  shining  list  of  the  emancipated.  But  while  these 
things  were  going  on  at  Greenfield,  the  ejes  of  the 
whole  country  began  to  be  turned  on  New  Vienna,  a 
small  railroad  town  a few  miles  west.  The  story  of  New 
Vienna  is  the  story  of  Van  Pelt,  who  was  destined  to 
play  so  important  a part  in  the  history  of  the  movement 
in  Ohio.  John  Calvin  Van  Pelt,  the  wickedest  nian  in 
Ohio,  soon  became  a familiar  character  to  the  public. 
Near  the  depot  was  a forbidding-looking  one-story  struc- 
ture, appropriately  known  as  the  “ Dead  Fall,”  and  pre- 
sided over  by  Van  Pelt,  a tall,  solidly  built  man,  with  a 
red  nose  and  the  head  of  a prize-fighter.  He  had  for- 
merly served  the  public  in  the  capacity  of  an  oyster 
dealer  on  Sixth  Street,  Cincinnati,  at  which  time  he  be- 
came identified  with  the  interests  of  the  cockpit,  and 
won  considerable  notoriety  for  his  bull-dog  pluck  and 
strength  of  will  in  any  undertaking  in  which  he  em- 
barked. He  possessed  a sort  of  humor  and  sociability 
which  made  him -a  popular  leader  among  his  companions 
at  New  Vienna.  , 

The  league  was  formed  in  the  usual  way,  and,  after 
visiting  the  drug  stores,  the  ladies  directed  th'eir  steps 
toward  the  “Dead  Fall.”  Van  Pelt  seemed  infuriated. 
He  threatened,  if  they  came  to  his  saloon  again,  to  hang, 
draw,  and  quarter  them.  The  next  day,  one  of  his  win- 
dows was  decorated  with  flasks  filled  with  whiskey. 
Across  the  other  one  was  an  axe,  covered  with  blood. 
Over  the  door  were  suspended  empty  flasks,  and  near 
them  a large  jug,  branded  “ Brady’s  Family  Bitters.” 
Over  all  floated  a black  flag.  As  if  this  array  was  not 
sufficiently  dramatic,  he  could  be  seen  within,  brandish- 
ing a club,  and  defying  the  temperance  band,  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives,  to  enter. 


348 


INTEMPER  AJJTCE, 


But  even  these  bloodthirsty  demonstrations  had  no 
effect  upon  the  ladies.  Next  day  they  went,  about  fifty 
in  number,  entered  his  saloon,  and  began  their  usual  de- 
votions. About  two  hundred  men  were  outside,  expect- 
ing some  attempt  at  violence.  A lady  began  in  prayer, 
and  was  just  about  praying  that  the  heart  of  the  saloon 
keeper  might  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  when 
Van  Pelt  seized  a bucket  of  dirty  water. 

“ G — d d — n you,”  said  he,  “ I’ll  baptize  you ! ” And 
with  this  he  threw  the  contents  against  the  ceiling 
overhead,  from  which  it  came  pouring  down  upon  the 
kneeling  ladies.  They  stood,  however,  heroically  to 
their  post,  and  it  was  not  until  drenched  with  dirty 
slops  and  beer  that  they  retreated  to  the  ontside. 

The  crowd  surrounding  the  place  were  enraged,  and 
were  only  prevented  by  the  intercession  of  the  ladies 
from  mobbing  the  ruffian.  Inhuman  as  he  was,  the 
women  had  faith  to  believe  they  could  conquer  him 
without  violence,  or  even  law.  But  the  fathers  and 
husbands  of  those  insulted  Avere  not  so  tender  in  their 
sentiments,  and  Van  Pelt  was  arrested  and  sent  to  jail. 
There  he  languished  for  several  days,  unable  to  find 
bad.  His  brother,  also  a desperate  character,  did  the 
honors  at  the  saloon,  and  for  a day  or  two  allowed  the 
women  to  enter,  and  carry  on  their  deA^otional  exercises. 
On  the  third  day,  however,  he  shut  them  out,  and  they 
again  patiently  went  on  with  their  prayers  on  the  walk 
outside. 

Meanwhile  Van  Pelt  found  bail,  and  was  released 
from  the  calaboose.  His  week’s  imprisonment  seemed 
only  to  have  made  liim  the  more  bitter  and  determined. 
He  had-  the  boldness  to  attend  the  meetiusrs  of  the  ladies 

O 

in  the  Friends’  church,  and  argue  the  case  with  them 
publicly. 

“ Why  did  the  Lord  put  the  stimulant  in  the  corn  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDT. 


349 


grape,  if  it  was  not  for  the  use  of  man  ? What  would 
the  farmer  get  for  his  grain,  if  whiskey  was  not  made 
and  sold  ? ” These  and  like  arguments,  which  he  had 
carefully  studied  up,  he  hurled  at  the  heads  of  the  tem- 
perance people,  and,  with  his  quick  wit,  proved  quite  a 
formidable  disputant  for  the  logicians  of  the  other  party 
to  encounter.  At  length  he  gave  evidence  of  a growing 
weakness  in  the  knees  by  repeated  propositions  to  sell 
out.  His  first  price  was  five  hundred  dollars  ; then  he 
fell  to  three  hundred,  and  at  last  to  ninety-five,  that 
being  the  amount  expended  by  him  in  lawyers’  fees,  &c. 
On  payment  of  this  sum,  he  was  to  quit  the  town  for- 
ever. It  was  a tempting  inducement,  and  many  were 
for  taking  him  up.  A meeting  was  called  to  consider 
the  matter.  The  debate  natiually  ran  back  to  the  beer 
slops  indignity. 

“ He  may  be  glad  he  got  off  with  his  life.  In  any 
other  town  he  would  mighty  quick  go  to  try  the  realities 
of  another  world ; but  we  are  a peaceable  people,  and 
only  ask  him  to  go  while  he  can  go  safe.  We  don’t  owe 
him  anything,”  &c.  This  was  the  argument  of  Mr. 
Amberg. 

“ I was  the  one  who  got  ihe  most  of  it,”  said  one  of 
the  ladies  ; “ but  I have  forgiven  him,  and  continue  to 
pray  that  I may  have  no  hard  feelings  against  him  ; and 
though  I maintain  we  don’t  owe  him  a cent,  yet  I am 
willing  to  make  him  a small  present  just  for  good  will.” 

These  two  arguments  illustrate  very  weU.  the  different 
spirit  entertained  by  the  men  and  by  the  women  on  the 
same  subject. 

On  the  26th,  Van  Pelt  proved  his  indisputable  claim 
to  the  title  of  the  wickedest  man  in  Ohio.  He  put  a 
cap  on  the- climax  of  his  wickedness.  When  the  ladies 
called  at  his  saloon,  as  usual,  he  met  them  at  the  door, 
and  told  them  they  might  come  in  and  pray  on  one  con- 


350 


INTEMPBKANCE, 


dition.  That  was,  that  they  allow  him  to  make  every 
other  prayer.  In  amazement  the  women  said -yes,  and 
the  farce  began.  After  some  lady  had  concluded  the 
first  prayer,  Van  Pelt  began  a long  and  blasphemous 
harangue  in  the  form  of  a.prayer.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  no  reporter  was  on  the  spot  to  preserve  the  curi- 
osity to  the  world.  He  asked  the  Lord  to  have  mercy 
on  the  women,  whom  he  classed  with  the  brutes,  and 
to  teach  them  wisdom  and  understanding.  Woman,' he 
said,  first  caused  man  to  sin,_  and  there  was  great  need 
for  prayer  in  their  behalf.  He  said  the  Lord  operated 
the  first  distillerj'- ; or,  at  least,  made  the  first  wine,  and 
he  (Van  Pelt)  was  but  following  the  Lord’s  example, 
&c.,  &c. 

Before  the  services  were  ended  he  had  made  three 
long  prayers  of  this  description.  The  women  were  al- 
most speechless  with  astonishment,  half  expecting  that 
the  hardened  wretch  would  be  struck  dumb  on  the  spot. 
But  this  was  only  the  darkness  before  day.  One  week 
from  that  time  Van  Pelt  had  surrendered,  and,  like  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  took  up  the  cause  he  had.  fought  so  long,  and 
became  one  of  its  most  shining  apostles. 

The  day  before  the  surrender  w'as  dark  and  drizzling. 
All  day  long  the  women  stood  guard  before  the  door, 
changing  at  intervals.  In  the  evening  meeting  the  sec- 
retary read  out  the  names  of  all  who  had  entered  Yan 
Pelt’s  place  during  the . day.  A determination  was 
evinced  to  fight  it  out  on  the  line  already  begun.  Next 
morning  the  ladies  met  promptly  at  eight  o’clock,  and 
proceeded  to  the  “ Dead  Fall.”  Van  Pelt  met  them  at 
the  door,  and  told  them  if  they  would  go  away  and  come 
again  at  two  o’clock  he  would  give  them  his  final  de- 
cision. It  was  noised  abroad  that  Van  Pelt  was  going 
to  sm'render.  At  noon  the  bells  were  set  to  ringing,  and 
boys  went  through  the  streets  with  hand-bells,  crying. 


VAN  pelt’s  surrender. 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  EEMEDY. 


353 


“ Everybody  meet  at  Van  Pelt’s  saloon  at  two  o’clock, 
and  hear  his  decision ! ” People  closed  up  their  places 
of  business,  and  rushed  from  all  parts  of  the  town 
towards  the  depot.  An  immense  crowd  of  men  and 
women  assembled  before  the  scene  of  so  many  prayers 
and  songs.  Each  looked  at  the  other,  and- wondered 
what  was  going  to  come  next. 

After  singing  and  prayer  by  the  ladies.  Van  Pelt 
came  to  the  door,  and  in  a few  remarks  full  of  feeling, 
made  a complete  surrender  of  his  stock  and  fixtures  to 
the  cause.  He  said  he  yielded  not  to  law  or  force,  but 
to  the  labors  of  love  of  the  women.  He  then  requested 
all  the  men,  except  the  ministers,  to  retire  beyond  the 
railroad  track,  and  called  upon  Rev.  D.  Hill  and  Rev. 
H.  H.  Whitter  to  roll  out  the  barrels.  There  was  one 
barrel  of  whiskey,  another  of  cider,  and  a keg  of  beer. 

Van  Pelt  then  seized  an  axe,  and  stepping  forward, 
held  it  up,  crying,  — 

“ This  is  the  same  weapon  I used  to  terrify  the  ladies-. 
I now  use  it  to  sacrifice  that  which  I fear  has  ruined 
many  souls.”  So  saying,  he  stove  in  the  heads  of  the 
barrels,  and  the  liquors  gurgled  out  into  the  gutters. 

Prayer  was  offered,  a hymn  sung,  and  Van  Pelt  made 
a few  more  remarks,  saying,  — 

“ Ladies,  I now  promise  you  to  never  sell  or  drink 
another  drop  of  whiskey  as  long  as  I live,  and  also  prom- 
ise to  Avork  with  you  in  the  cause  with  as  much  zeal  as 
I have  worked  against  you.”  He  also  remarked  that  he 
hoped  the  Avomen  of  the  United  States  would  never 
cease  until  every  drop  of  whiskey  was  emptied  upon 
the  ground,  as  his  Avas. 

Just  then  the  train  frorn  Cincinnati  arrived.  The 
crowd  set  up  a deafening  cheer ; a photographist  caught 
the  scene,  and  preserved  it  to  posterity ; the  women 
gathered  around  Van  Pelt,  shaking  his  hands  and  con- 


354 


INTESIPEEA^TCE, 


gratulating  him,  and  the  glad  news  spread  through  the 
town,  creating  great  excitement. 

In  the  evening  a thanksgiving  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Christian  church,  and  Van  Pelt  spoke.  He  was 
humble  in  his  manner,  and  made  a good  impression  on 
the  audience.  He  had  felt,  he  said,  for  some  days, 
deep  convictions  that  he  was  doing  a mean  business, 
but  had  used  every  argument  he  could  to  sustain  him- 
self— had  tried  to  argue  with  the  ladies,  and  get  the 
best  of  the  argument ; it  was  not  arguments,  but  their 
prayers  and  suffering  that  had  touched  his  heart.  No 
man' or  set  of  men  would  suffer  and  endure  what  the 
ladies  had  endured  in  this  work.  .He  referred  to  his 
saloon  as  a low  doggery,  saying,  “ Yes,  I’ll  caU  it  a low 
doggery,  for  no  man  can  keep  a high  one.”  He  had 
often  taken  the  last  ten  cents  from  a man  for  whiskey 
when  he  knew  the  money  had  been  ’ earned  by  his  wife 
or  child.  Every  man  who  sells  whiskey  does  this.  Little 
faces  thus  robbed  had  often  appealed  to  his  heart  with 
greater  force  than  any  words  of  man.  He  w-as  now  de- 
termined to  quit  this  business  forever,  and  throw  his 
strength  on  the  other  side  of  the  question.  He  thought 
places  of  innocent  amusement  and  resort  ought  to  be 
established,  to  entertain  those  who  seek  company  at 
saloons.  He  beheved  this  emphatically  a ladies’  work. 
He  believed  God  had  led  them  into  this  work.  He 
wanted  to  encourage  them  to  go  on  till  the  country  is 
freed  from  the  greatest  curse  of  the  land.  He  had  been 
thinking  for  several  days  that  perhaps  the  great  God 
who  overrules  all  had  allowed  liim  to  go  into  that  low 
business,  that  he  might  see  the  great  iniquity,  and  be 
better  able  to  influence  others  to  quit  the  terrible  busi- 
ness. 

In  another  week  Van  Pelt  was  in  the  field  as  a tem- 
perance lecturer ! 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSTD  ITS  KEMEDY. 


355 


One  of  the  most  hopeless  places,  to  all  appearances, 
in  Ohio,  was  Morrow,  a small  railroad  town  about  forty 
miles  from  Cincinnati,  on  the  Little  Miami  road.  The 
wickedness  of  Morrow  had  passed  into  a proverb.  The 
place  seemed  whiskey-ridden,  and  the  cause  of  its  deso- 
lation was  visible  at  almost  every  turn.  The  correspond- 
ent of  a Cincinnati  paper,  who  visited  the  place  soon  after 
the  temperance,  excitement  had  broken  out,  summed  up 
the  situation  graphically  as  follows  : — 

“ Population,  eleven  hundred ; drinking  places,  fif- 
teen ; increase  of  population  in  ten  years,  two  hundred 
persons ; increase  of  municipal  taxation,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  per  cent. ; decline  in  business  reported  at 
twenty-five  per  cent. ; manufactures  nothing,  and  no 
increase  in  the  value  of  property ; eighteen  vacant  dwell- 
ing-houses, and  numbers  of  the  best  citizens  removed. 
Such  are  the  facts  given  me  by  the  ‘ old  and  reliable.’ 
Verily  it  was  time  for  the  law  or  the  gospel  to  do  some- 
thing. The  place  has -a  beautiful  and  romantic  site. 
They  have  three  railroads,  and  expect  connection  soon 
with  a trunk  line  to  the  east.  On  one  side  is  the  river, 
and  on  the  other  the  beautiful  hill,  with  hundreds  of 
sites  for  palatial  residences.  In  the  neighborhood  is 
good  fishing  and  hunting,  and  all  around  is  scenery  un- 
surpassed in  the  State  of  Ohio.  Apparently  this  is  just 
the  place  for  a favorite  summer  resort. 

“ Twenty-five  years  ago  Morrow  had  aspirations. 
There  were,  and  are,  unsurpassed  facilities  for  manufac- 
turing— still  unimproved.  Three  large  hotels  at  that 
time  were  filled  most  of  the  summer  with  families  and 
visitors  from  Cincinnati.  The  society  was  good ; church, 
school,  and  lyceum  were  thoroughly  organized ; and, 
besides  the  manufacturing  interests  which  were  being- 
established,  the  place  expected  to  b.ecome  a city  of  ele- 
gant retired  country  seats.  Somehow  the  saloons  got 


356 


INTEJIPEEANCE, 


the  start,  the  manufactiuers  took  the  alarni,  the  ex- 
pected good  families  did  not  come,  and  many  that  were 
here  moved  away.  If  the  place  has  improved  in  twenty 
years,  that  fact  is  not  apparent  to  the  naked  eye.  Still 
there  are  many  good  families  in  Morrow.  They  have 
borne  the  demoralization  and  tyranny  of  the  whiskey 
power  until  it  has  become  a question  of  hfe  and  death 
with  them  ; and  they  have , entered  on  this  struggle  in 
the  spirit  in  which  patriots  fight  for  their  homes,  feeling 
that  unless  they  conquer,  they  must. emigrate-.  It  is  not 
a question  of  philanthropy  alone,  and  other  people’s 
good,  here,  as  in  some  places ; they  must  conquer  or 
die.” 

The  immediate  source  of  the  contagion  was  Wilming- 
ton. Mrs.  Runyan,  the  wife  of  the  Methodist  minister 
at  Wilmington,  and  Mrs.  Hadley,  a soft-spoken  but  de- 
termined Quaker  lady,  came  over  from  that  place,  told 
the  ladies  of  Morrow  how  a few  days  of  energetic  work 
had  cleared  all  the  saloons  Out  of  Wilmington,  and 
offered  their  services.  They  were  gratefully  accepted. 
Over  fifty  women  of  Morrow  rallied  around  them,  and 
the  campaign  began  in  earnest.  This  resolute  baud 
met  at  ten  o’clock  in  the  morning  in  the  Methodist 
church,  and  started  out  on  their  mission  of  love,  while 
the  men  remained  behind  to  pray  and  consult.  Lewis 
Fairchild,  an  aged  warrior  in  the  temperance  cause,  who 
had  withstood  the  rebuffs  and  rotten  eggs  of  two  or 
three  generations  of  rum  sellers,  was  chairman  of  the 
league,  and  was  always  on  hand  with  encouragement 
and  advice. 

There  were  some  hard  cases  to  treat  among  the  sa- 
loonists.  Looskin  Avas  going  to  shoot  the  first  woman 
who  crossed  his  threshold.  Opes  and  Goepper  posted 
up  conspicuous  notices,  “ No  singing  and  praying  women 
allowed  here.”  Weingartner  Avould  sell  out  if  they 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEjVIEDY. 


357 


would  pay  him  six  hundred  dollars  for  a few  old  chairs, 
tables,  and  empty  bottles.  Mrs.  Krumpf,  a German 
woman  across  the  river,  could  “ sprech  kein  English.” 
Martin  Fath,  when  he  saw  the  women  coming,  tempo- 
farily  turned  his  saloon  into  a tailor’s  shop,  and  worked 
away  at  his  sewing  machine  for  dear  life.  Goepper, 
Briesah,  and  Kebbel  locked  them  out.  There  was  httle 
to  encourage  the  ladies  in  their  first  two  or  three 
rounds. 

One  of  the  most  discouraging  cases  to  deal  with  was 
Henry  Scheide.  He  was  a young  German  of  good  dis- 
position and  friendly  manners.  He  had  received  a good 
education  in  the  Cincinnati  schools,  having  been  de- 
signed, it  is  said,  for  the  ministry.  Then  he  was  a clerk 
in  a dry  goods  store  in  the  city.  But  the  saloon  busi- 
ness promised  greater  profits,  and  he  removed  to  Mor- 
row, where  he  established  the  “respectable  saloon”  of 
the  place.  He  allowed  no  drunkards  about  him,  and 
conducted  his  establishment  with  such  skill  that  it 
became  the  popular  resort  for  the  young  men  of  the 
town  and  surrounding  country.  Therefore  it  was  that 
Scheide’s  was  considered  by  the  women  the  flowery 
path  that  led  to  the  bad  place. 

The  following  rambling  talk  which  Scheide  confided 
to  the  bosom  of  a Cincinnati  reporter  will  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  views  of  his  class  quite  generally : — 

“We’ll  worry  ’em  some,  though  I’m  the  only  one 
that  lets  the  ladies  in.  It  don’t  bother  me  much  ; they 
only  sing  and  pray,  and  stay  about  half  an  hour.  I’ll 
open  every  time  they  come,  shutting  ^oors  on  nobody. 
There’s  no  rowdies  come  into  this  place.  , Those  ladies 
don’t  understand  it.  They  have  a foolish  prejudice 
about  this  business.  Now  I can  run  this  establishment 
just  as  nice  as  a dry  goods  store,  and  I do.  . . . ‘ O,  if 
they’d  stay  all  day,  I’d  soon  stop  that.  This  is  my  busi- 


858 


LN  TEMPERANCE, 


ness,  and  I won’t  let  anybody  interfere  with  it.  There’s 
a state  law  against  selling  by  tbe  drink,  but  nobody 
pays  any  attention  to  it.  We  run  that  risk.  No  man 
but  a low  sneak,  who  has  a spite  against  you,  will  drink 
in  your  house,  and  then  go  and  make  complaint  against 
you.  The  Council  won’t  make  any  order  here.  They’re 
men  of  too  much  sense.  I tell  you  a town  must  have 
a decent  saloon,  or  it  won’t  prosper.  All  the  farmers 
nearly  in  the  country,  when  they  go  to  sell  their  grain 
or  buy  goods,  are  going  where  they  can  get  a dram. . 
They  will  have  their  beer  or  ale.  Stop  the  sale  here, 
and  two  thirds  of  our  travel  leaves  us.  hlaybe,  though, 
if  no  town  had  saloons,  it  might  make  it  even ; but  the 
others  will  have  them. 

“ . •.  . Women  get  along  in  all  these  towns  because  ' 
they  have  no  opposition.  Mayor  and  officers  and  law- 
yers were  all  with  them,  because  it  was  a new  thing. 
But  here  we’ve  got  some  rights.  Our  lawyers  are  with 
us.  It’s  politics  that’s  really  at  the  bottom  of  this  thing. 
It’s  been  tried  here.  The  Methodists  and  temperance 
men  are  trying  to  get  up  a ticket  of  their  own,  and  can’t 
make  it  win.” 

The  ladies  from  the  first  acted  on  the  rigid  principle 
of  no  compromise.  They  would  pay  no  man  for  his 
liquors.  The  basis  of  negotiations  must  be  unconditional 
surrender,  except  in  cases  where  families  were  in  indi- 
gent circumstances.  Then,  if  the  saloon  keeper  made 
a complete  sacrifice,  they  would  make  every  effort  to 
relieve  him  from  want,  and  start  him  in  some  more 
honest  calHng. 

The  corn  question  was  sprung  upon  the  morning 
meeting  one  day  quite  suddenly,  and  proved  a perplex- 
ing subject  to  Avrestle  with.  The  saloon  keepers  sent  a 
committee  to  say  that  Mr.  Ludlum,  an  active  worker  in 
the  temperance  cause,  was  then  loading  a car  with  corn 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


359 


for  a distillery.  If  the  women  allowed  that  thing  to  be 
done,  they  need  expect  no  more  concessions  from  the 
liquor  dealers.  It  was  like  a bofnb  in  the  camp  at  first  j 
but  presently  it  was  explained  that  Mr.  Ludlum  did  not 
sell  his  corn  to  a distillery,  but  to  commission  men,  over 
whom  he  had  no  control.  If  it  eventually  found  its 
way  into  whiskey,  the  fault  could  not  be  laid  at  his 
door.  However,  if  this  seemed  an  inconsistent  course, 
he  Avas  ready  to  give  up  the  whole  business  of  dealing 
in  corn.  Then  the  farmer  would  have  to  give  up  rais- 
ing, and  so  on  through  all  branches  of  trade.  The  mat- 
ter was  dropped  as  a side  issue,  and  a ruse  of  the  enemy 
to  set  the  temperance  folks  by  the  ears. 

And  so  the  campaign  went  on.  The  women  were 
out  evBry  day,  hr  constantly  increasing  numbers.  En- 
thusiastic mass  meetings  were  held  every  night. . Almost 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  vicinity,  not  engaged 
in  the  liquor  business,  signed  the  total  abstinence. pledge. 
One  after  another  the  saloon  keepers  gathered  their 
traps  about  them  and  silently  stole  away,  until  the  num- 
ber was  reduced  to  three  or  four. 

One  of  these  was  Max  Goepper,  a brother  of  the 
wealthy  Cincinnati  brewer,  rvho  kept  a low  place  close 
by  the  depot.  To  this  the  women  devoted  their  atten- 
tion, and  passengers  on  the  Little  Miami  trains  might 
see  them  at  almost  any  hour,  from  six  in  the.  morning 
until  ten  at  night,  kneeling  on  the  steps  before  the 
door  Avith  their  piteous  faces  upturned,  and  pleading 
with  the  Almighty  to  have  mercy  upon  that  saloon 
keeper,  and  change  his  heart.  Just  Avithin  the  door 
stood  Goepper,  with  a cigar  in  his  moutlA  and  a sar- 
donic grin  on  his  face,  winking  at  the  train  men,  or  at 
some  old  customer  Avhom  he  saAV  in  the  crowd.  In  the 
window  hung  a caricature  of  a dead  man  being  carried 
off  on  a bier,  and  underneath  the  inscription,  “ This 

22 


360  . 


INTEMPERANCE, 


man  was  prayed  to  death.”  It  was  a sight  that  brought 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  many  a traveller,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  provoked  a smile. 

, At  last,  on  a morning  early  in  March,  the  ladies  came 
as  usual,  and  found  only  the  em2:)ty  shell  of  the  old 
shanty.  Goepper  and  his  etfects  had  disappeared. 
Scheide,  who  had  some  time  before  obtained  an  injunc- 
tion* against  one  hundred  and  sixteen  of  the  women, 
together  with  Dio  Lewis  and  Van  Pelt,  forbidding  them 
to  pray  near  his  premises,  had  also  fled,  and  only  two 
insignificant  doggeries  were  left.  The  bells  were  rung 
loud  and  long,  Jind  the  patient  and  persistent  workers 
Avept  for  joy.  It  Avas  one  of  the  most  signal  Auctories  of 
the  campaign. 

A few  miles  farther  up  the  Little  TMiami  PiA'er  lies 
Waynesville,  a quiet,  comfortable  village  of  strong  Qua- 
ker proclivities.  Across  the  stream  is  a collection  of 
houses*  grouped  about  the  railroad  station,  and  named 
CorAvin,  after  the  illustrious  gOA’ernor  and  departed 
•statesman  of  Ohio.  This  Avas  the  scene  of  perhaps  the 
most  protracted  siege  of  the  whole  campaign.  "Waynes- 
A'ille  is  the  centre  of  a group  of  Aullages  in  'Warren 
County  that  dot  the  country  round  about  Avithin  a radius, 
of  ten  miles ; and  for  generations  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom of  the  inhabitants  of  those  places,  and  of  the  sur- 
rounding farmers,  to  bring  in  their  jugs  periodically  and 
haA^e  them  replenished.  On  this  trade,  and  the  little 
used  for  home  consumption,  two  saloons  in  '\Va3’nesA'ille 
* and  one  in  CorAvin  were  making  a A'ery  good  thing  of  it 
when  the  temperance  crusade  came  along.  The  first 
intimation  X)f  the  coming  storm  Avas  a petition  largely 
signed  by  citizens,  and  sent  in  to  the  A'illage  Council  for 
an  ale  and  beer  and  tippling-house  ordinance.  The 

* The  history  of  this  and  other  injunction  cases  is  detailed  at  length  in  a 
succeeding  chapter. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEilEDy.  ' 361 

ordinance  passed,  but  the  ladies  had  heard  of  the  moral 
achievements  in  neighboring  tovrns,  and  proposed  to 
close  up  the  saloons  without  the  aid  of  the  law.  At 
this  juncture  there  was  printed  and  circulated  about 
toAvn  the  following  literary  gem : — 

Notice.  As  it  has  come  to  my  hearing  that  there  is 
a rumor  in  circulation  that  some  of  the  ladies  in  and 
about  Waynesville,  O.,  are  about  to  visit  my  grocery 
on  Saturday,  the  17th  inst.,  for  the  purpose  of  holding* 
a prajmr  meeting,.  I advise  all  the  ladies  'concerned  in 
the  movement  to  keep  clear  of  my  grocery,  and  to  keep 
within  _ the  bounds  of  the  law,  as  my  grocery  is  not  a 
place  of  worship. 

Timothy  Liddy. 

■Watnesville,  O.,  Jan.  16,  1874. 

The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  within  a day  or  two 
the  women  were  praying  in  k'lr.  Liddy’s  “grocer3^” 
The  other  saloon,  kept  by  William  F.  Roper,  also  re- 
ceived a full  share  of  attention.  The  band  went  daily. 
Sometimes  they  were  admitted,  and  as  often  locked  out, 
when  they  held  their  devotions  on  the  pavement  in 
front.  But  after  this  plan  had  been  operating  a while, 
with  no  visible  result's,  another  was  adopted.  The 
women  were  divided  into  small  squads,  who  went  in 
succession  to  the  saloons,  thus  keeping  up  a constant 
guard.  But  the  enemy  made  a flank  movement,  and 
shut  out  one  and  all.  Then  things  began  to  get  warm. 
The  women  stuck  by  their  erring  brethren  outside  of 
the  door,  and  when  the  weather  was  inclement,  a cov- 
ered carriage  was  drawn  up  in  front  for  their  use.  It 
happened  that  the  two  saloons  were  on  diagonally  oppo- 
site -corners,  while  on  a third  corner  was  a vacant  room, 
which  was  turned  over  to  the  use  of  the  ladies.  It  was 


.362 


ETTEMPEEANCE, 


temporarily  fitted  up  -with  a stove  and  chairs,  and  the 
ladies  came  by  detachments  day  after  day,  as  to  an  ad- 
vance picket  post,  and  watched  the  two  saloons.  A 
book  was  kept  in  which  was  registered  the  name  of  every 
man  entering  either  place.  The  result  was  a sudden 
and  remarkable  falling  off  in  the  patronage  of  those  here- 
tofore prosperous  establishments.  One  of  the  pickets  on 
duty  was  asked  how  long  they  intended  to  keep  up  the 
watch. 

• “ Until  the  saloons  are  closed  up  for  good,”  was  her 

decided  reply. 

“ But,  then,  won’t  they  open  again  as  soon  as  you 
quit  ? ” 

“ If  they  do,  we  will  commence  the  watch  again.  We 
will  keep  the  war  up  till  we  see  the  end  of  whiskey 
here.” 

The  praying  visits,  however,  were  not  wholly  sus- 
pended. The  following  report  of  one  of  these  meetings, 
taken  on  the  spot,  will  serve  to  show  the  spirit  in  which 
such  exercises  were  almost  everywhere  conducted.  The 
band  Avas  composed  largely  of  Quakeresses  — Hicksite 
and  Orthodox  promiscuously  mingled.  The  scene  is 
Roper’s  saloon.  The  band  having  solemnly  entered  the 
room,  a hand  is  extended  to  Roper,  and  a kindly  voice 
inquires,  “ Hoav’s  thee  to-day,  brother  ? ” Then  all 
kneel,  and  after  a few  moments’  silence  an  earnest, 
pleading  A’oice  is  raised  in  prayer. 

“ Almighty  God,  thou  knowest  the  barrier  in  the  case 
of  this  man.  Thou  alone  knowest  the  key  that  may 
unlock  his  heart.  For  his  OAvn  sake,  for  Christ’s  sake, 
Avilt  thou  not  turn  him  from  his  present  course  ? Thou 
hast  all  things  to  give  ; he  has  nothing  to  lose.  . . . Lord, 
shoAV  mercy  to  our  fathers,  our  husbands,  our  brothers, 
our  sons,  who  may  be  in  danger  of  the  bhght  of  intern- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIVIEDY. 


363 


perance.  Bless  the  homes  and  the  hearts  that  are 
already  desolated  by  its  effects.  Take  thou  the  control 
of  these  weak  efforts  of  ours,  and  direct  us  to  glorious 
success.” 

Then  in  a low  voice  was  sung ; 

“ Watclimaii,  tell  us  of  the  night, 

What  its  signs  of  promise  are.” 

And  after  another  prayer,  the  hymn  — 

“ My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 

Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary.” 

Then  from  the  25th  and  26th  chapters  of  Isaiah  were 
read  the  words  — 

“ And  it  shall  be  said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our  God ; 
we  have  waited  for  him,  and  he  will  save  us.  . . . 

“ And  he  shall  bring  down  their  pride,  together  with 
the  spoils  of  their  hands. 

“ Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  thee.  Trust  ye 
in  the  Lord  forever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlast- 
ing strength.” 

The  protracted  siege,  already  referred  to,  was  at  the 
grocery  saloon  oi  Tom  Franey,  at  Corwin.  Franey  was 
noted  for  his  politeness,  and  when  the  ladies  came  over 
from  Waynesville,  to  plead  and  pray  with  him,  he  sev- 
eral times  ordered  his  team  hitched  to  an  omnibus  to 
take  them,  back.  At  last  his  suavity  began  to  give  place 
to  coldness,-  and  he  commenced  making  a careful  calcu- 
lation of  the  damage  done  to  his  valuable  business,  with 
the  announced  intention  of  suing  the  society,  or  the 
husbands  of  the  ladies,  for  the  amount.  But  a little 
legal  advice  probably  discouraged  him  from  that  under- 
taking, and  he  thereafter  shut  his  fair  visitors  out.  But 


364 


INTiaiPEEAJ^CE, 


the  women  never  left  him.  Day  after  day,  iov  forty-nine 
consecutive’ days,  the  siege  was  kept  up,  and  they  were 
finally  rewarded  with  an  unconditional  surrender. 

No  longer  the  rural  jugs  and  bottles,  came  .in  to 
Waynesville  for  replenishment.  No  more  drunken  men 
and  bo3'^s  stagger  through  the  streets.  Quakers  sing 
hymns ; all  denominations  mingle  freely,  and  the  era  of 
good  fellowship  prevails. 


ITS  ASPECT  AI^D  ITS  EEJVIEDY. 


365 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

EEVIEW  OP  THE  LEGAL  CASES.  — WERE  THE  WOMEN  TRESPASSERS  ON 
PRIVATE  EIGHTS  ? — THE  CELEBRATED  DUNN-  SUIT.  — THE  WARNING, 
THE  TABERNACLE,  AND  THE  INJUNCTION.  — OTHER  FUTILE  EFFORTS 
. TO  ENJOIN  THE  WOMEN.  — THE  SCHEIDE  INJUNCTION,  AND  HOW  IT 

WAS  DISSOLVED. LEGAL  PROSECUTIONS  AT  LEBANON.— A COMPARI- 

• SON  OF  THE  LAW  AND  GOSPEL  METHODS. 

Thk  reader  cannot  have  failed  to  observe  how  wholly 
the  success  of  the  women  was  due  to  love.  They  con- 
ducted, the  warfare  on  the  gospel  method  of  moral  per- 
suasion, instead  of  force.  It  was  whiskey  selling  they 
were  fighting  against,  and  not  the  whiskey  seller.  Many 
a hardened  saloon  keeper,  with  tearful  eyes,  has  con- 
fessed that  if  was  about  the  first  time  he  ever  thought 
anybody  cared  for  him,  when  the  best  Christian  women 
of  the  town  took  him  kindly  by  the  hand,  and  talked 
to  him  as  to  a brother.  If  men  had  come  about  his 
premises,  and  in  their  bungling  way  attempted  to  drive 
him  out  of  his  business,  he  would  have  had  his  coat  off 
for  a fight  in  an  instant.  If  the  law  had  been  used  to 
suppress  him,  he  would  have  united  all  the  money  and 
stubbornness  of  the  liquor  interests  in  resistance.  But 
when  a band  of  weak  women,  whom  he  knew  as  the  wives 
and  mothers  of  the  best  citizens,  came,  with  tender  words 
and  earnest  prayers,  it  was  an  enemy  he  hardly  knew  how 
to  fight.  In  these  trying  circumstances,  it  was  very  rare 
that  one  of  the  band  ever  lost  her  temper  ; and  it  was 
this  very  principle  of  meekness  and  good  nature  that 


366  ■ 


INTEMPERANCE, 


disarmied.  opposition  and  gave  the  women  their  extraor- 
dinary power. 

“ I tell  you,  my  young  friend,”  said  a Hillsboro’  mer- 
chant to  a reporter,  “ the  women  have  more  power  in 
favor  of  temperance,  ten  times  over,  than  the  men. 
They  are  free  from  political  entanglements.  They  don’t 
have  to  vote  for  anybody  for  office,  and  they  ask  nobody 
to  vote  for  them.  So  they  can  exert  their  moral  power 
without  hinderance.  We  are  hampered  in  business  and 
politics  ; they  work  for  the  pure  love  of  humanity.  A 
hundred  women  can  do  more  good  for  a moral  reform 
than  ten  thousand  voters.  We  can  only  make  laws,  but 
they  can  touch  the  heart.  It  must  be  a hard-hearted  man 
who  can  stand  in  his  saloon  and  resist  the  pleadings  of  a 
good  old  mother  whose  son  has  been  ruined  by  liquor, 
when  she  comes  with  tears  in  her  eyes  and  prayer  on  her 
lips.  Yes,  sir,  if  the  women  in  each  totvn  would  take 
hold  as  they  have  done  here,  Ohio  could  be  made  a tem- 
perance state  in  six  months.” 

Wherever  this  movement  was  begun  and  carried  for- 
ward to  any  success,  it  was  the  avowed  wish  of  the  cru- 
saders to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  any  resort  to  law.  A 
lady  in  Greenfield  summed  up  this  idea  in  the  following 
words  : — 

“We  intend  to  cure  this  disease  by  a better  treatment, 
that  shall  not.  leave  a drug  disease  in  the  system.  Ex- 
tirpation by  law  would  leave  hatreds  and  jealousies  in 
the  community ; but  prayer  and  good  words  leave  no 
•sting  behind..  We  don’t  intend  to  try  legal  remedies 
till  prayer  and  good  words  are  exhausted,  and  love  has 
lost  its  power* ; and  we  don’t  intend  that  shall  be  until 
the  whole  work  is  accomplished.” 

There  were  extraordinary  cases,  however,  where  legal 
persuasion  was  found  a very  convenient  and  effective 
means  of  bringing  incorrigible  persons  to  terms.  Again, 


ITS  ASPECT  AlfD  ITS  REMEDY.  367 

the  law  was  invoked,  in  some  instances,  by  the  wlhskey 
sellers,  and  the  peace-loving  ladies  were  compelled  to 
meet  their  opponents  with  the  same  weapons.  Some  of 
these  cases  were  of  such  interest,  and  had  so  important 
a hearing  on  the  subsequent  progress  of  the  movement, 
that  we  devote  this  chapter  to  a review  of  the  principal 
ones. 

If  early  became  a question  how  far  these  women  were 
invading  the  private  rights  of  property.  Saloon  keepers 
claimed  that  theirs  was  a legitimate  business,  recognized 
the  laws  of  the  state  and  of  the  nation,  and  that  the 
praying  women  were  violating  the  law  of  trespass,  and 
la5dng  themselves  liable  to  damages.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  a well-known  fact  that  the  law  was  violated 
daily  in  almost  every  saloon,  and  there  were  few  whiskey 
dealers  who  felt  themselves  legally  clean  enough  to  throw 
the  first  stone. 

Dunn,  the  notorious  Hillsboro’  druggist,  was  one  of 
these.  In  a preceding  chapter  we  left  the  ladies  pray- 
ing on  the  steps  before  his  door.  Within,  he  and  his 
clerk  were  sitting  about  the  stove,  waiting  for  the  few 
whiskey  customers  still  left  him  — a remnant  of  his  once 
flourishing  business.  The  front  door  was  locked  to  shut 
■ out  the  ladies,  and  the  back  entrance  was  carefully 
watched  lest  he  might  sometimes  entertain  spies  una- 
wares. 

At  length,  on  the  morning  of  the  31st  of  January,  the 
following  “ Notice  to  the  Ladies  of  Hillsboro’  ” was 
found  distributed  about  town,  and  posted  up  in  con- 
spicuous places : — 

“ Whereas  many  of  you,  among  whom  are  Mes- 
dames  Wm.  Scott,  Wm.  Trimble,  Sams,  W.  O.  Collins, 
J.  M.  Boyd,  A.  Evans,  Reece  Griffith,  Jonah  Langley, 
Wm.  Hoyt,  Caroline  Miller,  Wash.  Doggett,  W.  P. 
Bernard,  Misses  IMarian  Stewart,  Rachel  Conrad,  Sallie 


368 


INTE2iIPEEA2fCE, 


Stevenson,  Maggie  Bowles,  Clara  Rhodes,  Annie  Wilson, 
Grace  Gardner,  Jennie  Harris,  Emma  Grand-Girard, 
Mollie  Van  Winkle,  Emily  Grand-Girard,  Libbey  Kirby, 
Ella  Dill,  Laura  Rockhold,  Eddy,  Alice  SpCese,  Kate 
Trimble,  Alice  Boardman  and  sister  [fifty  more  names 
follow],  who  are  aided  by  the  following  named  gentle- 
men: Messrs.  E.  L.  Ferris,  H.  S.  Fullerton,’  Samuel 
Amen,  Asa  Haynes,  J.  J.  Brown,  J.  S.  Black,  W.  C. 
Barry,  E.  Carson,  Joseph  Glascock,  Wm.  Scott,  Thonias 
Barry,  S.  E.  Hibben  & Son,  T.’C.  Lytle,  R.  S.  Evans,  L. 
McKibben,  R.  Griffiths,  J.  L.  Boardman,  John  Cowgill, 
Lewis  Ambrose,  H.  Scarborough,  Wm.  Ambrose,  Wash. 
Doggett,  H.  Swearingen,  Rev.  E.  Grand-Girard,  and 
many  others ; • ' 

“ And  who,  although  not  directly  participating  in  5*our 
daily  proceedings,  are,  nevertheless,  counselling  and  ad- 
vising you  in  your  unlawful  proceedings  by  subscriptions 
of  money,  and  encouragement  in  the  commission  of  daily 
trespasses  ipron  my  property  since  the  24th  day  of  De- 
cember last,  b}''  reason  of  which  my  legitimate  business 
has  been  obstructed,  my  feelings  outraged,  and  my  pro- 
fession and  occupation  sought  to  be  rendered  odious,  by 
reason  of  which  I have  suffered  great  pecuniary  damage 
arrd  injury.  Therefore,  you  and  each  of  yorr,  together 
with  your  husbands  (or  sirclr  as  nray^  have  thenr),  and 
the  persons  who  are  thus  aiding  you  with  their  moneys, 
encoiuagerrrent,  and  advice  in  your  unlawful  proceed- 
ings, are  hereby  rrotified  that  I cannot,  nor  will  not, 
longer  submit  to  ymur  daily  trespasses  on  my^  property, 
and  iirjury’"  to  rrry^  birsiiress. 

“While. I am  willing  to  excrrse  your  actioir  in  tire 
past,  1 cannot  subirrit  to  such  outrages  in  the"  futiu-e. 
Cherishing  iro  unkind  hostility  towards  any"  one,  but  en- 
tertaining the  highest  reg'ard  for  the  ladies  of  Hillsboro’, 
distinguished  heretofore,  as  they  have  been,  for  their 
courtesy,  refinerrrent,  arrd  Christian  virtues,  I feci  ex- 
tremely reluctant  to  have  to  appeal  to  the  law  for  pro- 
tection agaiirst  their  riotous  arrd  rrnlawfirl  acts. 

“You  are  therefore  hereby  further  notified  that  if 
such  action  arrd  trespasses  are  repeated,  I shall  apply"  to 
the  laws  of  the  state  for  redress  and  damages  for  the 


ITS  ASrECTS  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  369 

injuries  occasioned  by  reason  of  tbe  practices  of  which  I 
complain. 

“ All  others  aiding  or  encouraging  you,  by  means  of 
money  or  otherwise,  are  also  notified  that  I shall  hold 
them  responsible  for  such  advice  and  encouragement. 

“ Yours,  respectfully,  • 

“ W.  H..  H.  Dunn.” 

This  produced  a great  sensation.  • Some ' thought  he 
would  prosecute  ; others  were  sure  that  he  would  not. 
When  Mr.  Dunn  reached  his  own  store  that  morning,  he 
found  the  wives  of  the  mayor  and  Methodist  minister  — 
Mrs.  Doggett  and  Mrs.  Conden  — already  there  to  talk 
the  matter  over.  They  argued  and  pleaded  with  him 
for  nearly  an.  hour;  but  all  the  satisfaction  they  got  was 
the  following : — 

“ I am  doing  a legitimate  business,  according  to  the 
laws  of  Ohio  and  all  well-recognized  rules  of  morality. 
I am  not  a Heathen  Chinee,  that  you  need  to  come  and 
jDray  with  me.  I tell  you  again  and  again,  in  tha  pres- 
ence of  these  gentlemen,  that  I don’t  want  you  to  pray 
in  my  house,  or  come  into  it  except  on  business.  I have 
treated  you  as  well  as  I know  how,  until  my  patience  is 
worn  out.  I now  tell  you  again  to  leave,  and  I will 
prosecute  all  who  interfere  with  my  business,”  &.C. 

At  nine  o’clock  on  the  same  morning,  a large  number 
of  temperance  people  came  together  at  the  church,  and 
by  exchanging  views  found  that  they  were  not  scared  so 
badty,  after  ail,  by  the  proclamation.  It  was  resolved 
to  go  on  with  the  work ; and  in'  order  to  facilitate  mat- 
ters, it  was  decided’to  erect  a “tabernacle,”  on  the  Yfash- 
ington  Court  House  plan,  already  described.  The  con- 
sent of  the  mayor  was  obtained,  and  in  less  than  an 
hour  a score  of  willing  hands  were  hammering  away  at 
the  structure.  When  'it  was  completed,  eighty-three 


370 


IXTEjVIPEEAJsTCE, 


ladies  at  once  took  possession,  and  went  on  with  their 
praying  and  singing  as  though  there  had  been  no  inter- 
ruption. This  was  more  than  the  resolute  Dunn  could 
stand.  The  lawyer  who  had  so  zealously  - defended 
Charlie  Beck  against  the  women  at  Washington  Court 
House,  was  called  in.  There  was  then  sitting  on  the 
bench  of  the  Probate  Couii  one  Judge  Safford,  a man 
whose  term  had  nearly  expired,  and  whose  sympathies 
Avere  anjnvhere  but  with  the  ladies.  To  him  Dunn  and 
lus  lawyer  applied  lor  a temporary  injunction  dissoh'ing 
the  tabernacle  and  the  temperance  party.  Their  success 
may  be  seen  in  the  following  order  of  the  court:  — 

“ You  are  hereb}^  notified  and  warned  that  David 
Johnson  and  W.  H.  H.  Dunn,  plaintiffs,  have  this  day 
obtained  an  order  of  temporary  injunction,  and  a re- 
straining order,  in  an  action  pending  in  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  for  the  said  county  of  Highland,  wherein 
they  are  plaintiffs,  and  you,  the  above-namod  persons, 
are  defendants,  and  have  given  an  undertaking  according 
to  law.  This  is,  therefore,  to  command  you,  the  said 
aboAm-named  defendants,  each  and  all  of  you,  from  using 
for  prayer,  singing,  exhorting,  or  any  other  purpose,  a 
certain  plank  and  canvas  structure  or  shard}’,  erected  on 
High  Street,  in  Hillsboro’,  Ohio,  in  front  of  the  drug 
store  of  said  W.  H.  H.  Dunn  ; and  it  is  further  ordered  that 
you,  said  defendants,  are  ordered  to  remove  the  said 
structure  or  shanty  fortliAvith,  and  each  and  every  part 
of  the  same,  whether  plank  or  cauAms,  and  you  are  each 
and  all  hereby  restrained  and  enjoined  from  re-erecting 
or  replacing  the  said  structure,  or  any  similar  structure, 
in  said  locality  or  upon  said  street,  to  the  annoyance  of 
the  said  W.  H.  H.  Dunn ; and  it  is  further  ordered  that 
you,  the  said  defendants,  each  and  all  of  you,  are  hereby 
enjoined  and  restrained  from  singing,  praying,  exhorting, 
or  making  a noise  and  disturbance  in  front  of  said  dimg 
store  of  said  W.  H.  H.  Dunn,  or  on  the  sidewalk,  or  on 
the  steps  thereof,  or  in  the  vicinity  thereof,  to  his  an- 
noyance, or  from  trespassing  in  or  upon  his  said  premises, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


371 


or  in  any  manner  interrupting  liis  said  business,  and  this 
you  will  in  no  wise  omit  under  the  penalty  of  the  law. 

“ Witness  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  said  Court  of  Hills- 
boro’, the  31st  day  of  January,  1874.  . 

[seal]  “J.  K.  Pickering,  Clerk. 

“A  true  copy:  C.  P.  Pape,  Sheriff:'  ! 

There  was  no  resistance  to  this  injunction.  In  the 
dead  of  night  the  Tabernacle  was  quietly  taken  down, 
and  next  morning  not  a trace  of  it  was  visible. 

Then  came  on  the  trial  of  the  case.  High  legal  talent 
was  employed  on  both  sides.  The  defendants  retained 
Judge  Matthews  and  J.  H.  Thompson,  Esq.,  of  Hills- 
boro’, and  M.  J.  Williams,  of  Washington  Court.  House  ; 
and  the  plaintiffs,  Messrs.  D.unn,  Beeson,  Collins,  and 
Parker.  There  was  a long  and  weary  contest  in  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  beginning  on  the  17th  of  Feb- 
ruary, Judges  S.  F.  Steel  and  T.  M.  Gray  upon  the  bench. 
Judge  Safford' now  appeared  as  an  attorney  to  defend  his 
action  as  a judge. 

Dunn,  through  his  counsel,  summed  up  his  grie'^ances 
in  the  following  petition  for  a permanent  injunction  : — 

“ The  plaintiff,  Dunn,  claims  that  he  is  the  lessee  of  a 
certain  piece  of  property  on  High  Street,  of  Hillsboro’, 
which  is  owned  by  the  other  plaintiff,  David  Johnson  ; 

that  he  has  for years  past  been  engaged  in  a ‘ drug 

business  ’ therein,  and  that  he  has  kept  an  orderly  and 
quiet  house,  &c.  ; that  on  or  about  the  24th  day  of  De- 
cember, 1873,  certain  defendants  joined  and  agreed  to- 
gether to  break  up  and-destro}''  his  lawful  business  ; that 
the}’’  held  ‘temperance  prayer  meetings  ’ in  his  house  from 
day  to  day  thereafter,  against  his  will  and  protests,  and 
that  he  was  compelled  to  lock  his  door  and  keep  it 
locked  ; that  they  met  on  the  steps  and  sidewalk,  before 
his  door,  and  held  prayer  meetings  ‘ all  day,’  from  day  to 
day,  and  kept  customers  away  from  his  place  of  busi- 
ness ; Sind  that  they  made  a ‘ noise  and  disturbance  by 


872 


INTEIVIPEEAITCE, 


singing,  praying,  and  exhorting,’  to  the  annoyance  of  said 
Dunn,  and  to  the  depriving  him  of  his  rest  and  comfort; 
that  he  warned  them  repeatedly  to  desist ; and  that  on 
the  night  of  January  30,  1874,  he  caused  handbills  to  be 
struck  and  circulated,  warning  those  so  engaged,  that  if 
they  did  not  desist  he  would  appeal  to  the  law^s  of  the* 
state  for  protection  ; that  on  the  afternoon  (January  31) 
these  men  and  women,  avowedly  for  the  i^urpose  of 
breaking  up  his  lawful  business,  erected  a plank  and 
canvas  structure,  or  ‘shanty,’  on  the  street,  before  his 
store,  about  seventeen  feet  in  front  thereof,  and  five  feet 
fi'orn  the  curbstone,  open  in  front,  and  closed  on  three 
sides,  &c.,  &c.,  which  shanty  prevented  his  customers 
from  reaching  the  hitching-posts  before  his  door,  and 
obstructed  the  highway  ; that  said  ‘defendants  occuj)ied 
said  structure,  and  threatened  to  occupy  it  day  and 
night,  and  to  persecute  and  anno}'  him  until  they  forced 
him  to  yield  to  their  unlawful  demands ; that  said 
shanty  is  a nuisance,  decreasing  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty and  obstructing  tlie  highway,  and  that  the  singing 
and  praying  are  annoying  to  them  and  to  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  therefore  they. (Johnson  and  Dimn)  ask  for  an 
abatement  and  perpetual  injunction.” 

The  defendants  asked  for  a dissolution  of  the  injunc- 
tion on  the  following  grounds  : — 

1.  Because  the  undertaking  (bond)  of  the  plaintiff 
was  insufficient. 

2.  Because  of  the  misjoinder  of  plaintiffs  and  defend- 
ants, and  of  actions. 

3.  Because  of  the  misjoinder  of  nuisances,  the  plain- 
tiff claiming  that  the  shanty  and  the  singing  and  praying 
disturbed  his  mind. 

4.  Because  of  the  omission  of  W.  H.  H.  Dunn’s  Chris- 
tian name  in  the  petition  and  injunction.' 

6.  Because  that  the  affidavit  was  made  only  by  Dunn, 
and  not  by  Johnson. 

6.  Because  there  was  not  sufficient  damage  shown  to 
have  occurred  to  call  for  an  injunctive  interference. 

7.  Because  the  cause  of  action  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs 
was  not  a joint  but  a several  cause. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIMEDY.  87*3 

8.  Because  the  order  was  granted  without-  sufficient 
notice,  &c. 

• 9.  Because  the  order  is  vague,  uncertain,  and  void  on 
its  face,  and  without  authority  of  law. 

The  case  was  argued  with  great  skill  and  pertinacity 
on  both  sides.  It  was  held  by  the  defendants  that  it 
must  be  more  than  a fanciful  annoyance  to  entitle  one 
to  an  injunction.  Could  singing  one  of  the  soft  old 
hymns,  “ Come,  humble  sinner,”  or,  Bring  forth  the 
royal  demijohn,  and  let  us  sell  it  all,”  have  destroyed 
Dunn’s  actual  ease  and  comfort  ? And  as  for  Johnson, 
he  had  been  too  deaf  to  hear  thunder  for  thirty  years. 

The  plaintilfs,  in  turn,  told  how  an  ambassador  in  an 
Oriental  land  was  annoyed  by  a howling  dervish,  who 
mad^  demands  upon  him,  and  when  they  were  not  ac- 
ceded to,  remained  continually  before  the  house,  keeping 
up  his  religious  exercises.  The  ambassador  applied  to 
'the  authorities  for  relief,  but  was  told  that  because  of  the 
man’s  “ sanctity  ” he  must  not  be  made  amenable  to 
law.  “ Our  dervishes  are  Christians  in  good  standing, 
but  the  law  gives  good  and  bad  their  rights  alike.” 

Judge  Safford’s  argument  in  defence  of  his  own  in- 
junction was  a failure.  Three  fourths  of  his  'speech 
was  an  attempt  to  vindicate  himself  before  the  people -of 
Hillsboro’.  Neither  his  defence  of  his  injunction,  nor 
that  of  himself,  Avas  deemed  a success. 

At  last,  after  four  days  of  argument,  during  which 
the  most  eager  interest  Avas  shown  by  the  people,  the 
case  was  concluded,  and  Judge  .Steel  gave  his  decision. 
The  temporary  injunction  was  dissolved,  but  onlj^  on  a 
technicality,  and  not  on  the  merits  of  the  case.  The  de- ' 
cision  was,  that  the  action  could  not. go  on  because  the 
petition  made  no  case  in  favqr  of  Johnson,  the  owner  of 
the  property.  The  result  was  a disappointment  to  both 
parties,  and  to  the  elements  which  they  represented 


£74 


EsTEMPEEAXCE, 


throughout  the  state.  The  plaintiffs  appealed  the  case 
to  the  District  Court,  where,  at  this  writing,  it  is  still 
pending. 

After  Dunn  had  succeeded  in  getting  a temporary  in- 
junction on  the  women,  efforts  were  made  in  scores  of 
towns,  where  the  movement  was  now  in  progress,  to 
check  their  operations  in  the  same  way.  But  the  courts 
were  generally  in  sympathy  with  the  ladies.  Judge  after 
judge  was  applied  to  in  vain.  It  was  only  in  IMorrow 
that  any  further  serious  hinderance  was  experienced  by 
the  temperance  people  in  the  way  of  restraining  orders 
of  courts.  This  case,  and  the  decision  in  it,  are  of  such 
interest,  that  we  give  at  length  the  main  features. 

On  the  17th  of  February,  Henry  Scheide  (he  who 
kept  the  “respectable  saloon  ” at  Morrow),  weirt  before 
Judge  Gilmore,  of  Eaton,  with  the  following  petition  : — 

“ The  said  Henry  Scheide,  plaintiff,  prays  that  each 
and  every  one  of  the  said  defendants,  individually, 
joiutlj^,  and  collectively,  be  restrained,  prohibited,  and 
enjoined  from  molesting,  disturbing,  or  hindering  the 
said  Henry  Scheide  hr  the  prosecuting  and  conduct- 
ing his  said  business,  upon  any  pretence  or  pretext 
whatever,  and  invading,  or  meeting  in  or  about  his 
premises,  to  obstruct  his  said  business  ; and  also  prays 
judgment  against  all  of  said  defendants  for  the  sum  of 
one  thousand  dollars,  and  prays  for  all  other  proper  re- 
lief in  the  premises.” 


The  said  defendants  were,  — 


Mrs.  E.  B.  Grim, 

Frank  Forshnell, 
Geo.  W.  Davis, 
John  Hanford, 
Oscar  T.  Hanford, 
B.  F.  Wilson, 


Mrs.  H.  J.  Coffeen, 
Josiah  Fairchild. 
Porter  Corson, 
Jas.  H.  Jeffeiw, 
W.  P.  Hanford, 
J.  T.  Welch, 


and  one  hundred  and  four  other  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
among  whom  were  Dio  Lewis  and  Van  Pelt. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY. 


375 


The  trial  came  off  at  Lebanon  the  28th  of  February. 
It  was  before  Judge  Smith,  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and 
was  conducted  on  the  part  of  the' women  by  Ex-Lieu- 
tenant Governor  McBurney,  Gen.  Durbin  Ward,  Messrs. 
Brabosee  and  Van  Harlingin,  of  Lebanon,  and  Cun- 
ningham, of  Morrow' ; and  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiff  by 
O’Neil,  of  Lebanon,  and  Wallace  and  Mayor  . Scantlin, 
of  Morrow.  It  was  a great  day  in  Lebanon.  The  whole 
town  of  Morrow  had  come  over  and  emptied  itself  upon 
the  unfortunate  village.  A public  dinner  was  given  by 
the  Lebanon  ladies  to  their  persecuted  guests.  Forty  of 
the  defendants  marched  to  the  court-house  in  solemn 
procession.  Every  inch  of  space  in  the  building  was 
packed  full,  even  to.  the  sacred  precincts  behind  the  bar, 
and  on  the  bench. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  review  the  arguments.  The  de- 
cision of  Judge  Smith,  however,  has  a permanent  inter- 
est, and  we  herewith  reproduce  the  principal  points. 
The  ground  on  which  the  case  was  decided,  it  will  be 
seen,  was  that  the  plaintiff  had  no  right  to  ask  legal  pro- 
tection for  a manifestly  illegal  business. 

“ On  the  17th  day  of  February  a temporary  injunction 
was  allowed  in  this  case  by  Judge  Gilmore,  restraining 
the  defendants  as  prayed  for  in  the  petition.  This  court 
is  now  asked  to  dissolve  that  injunction,  for  the  reasons 
set.  forth  in  the  motions  which  have  been  filed,  and 
which,  briefly  stated,  are  the  following  : — 

“ 1.  That  Judge  Gilmore,  when’in  another  county,  and 
while  this  court  was  in  session,  had  no  legal  authority  to 
grant  it. 

“ 2.  Because  the  statements  of  the  petition  do  not 
warrant  a court  of  equity  in  granting  the  relief  asked 
for,  as  it  is  apparent  therefrom  that  he  has  an  adequate 
remedy  at  law,  and  that  the  grievances  complained  of, 
or  their  continuance,  have  not,  and  cannot  work  a great 
or  irreparable  injury  to  the  plaintiff.  23 


376 


INTEjMPERAKCE, 


“•3.  Because  the  allegations  of  the  petition  are  untrue. 

“ To  support  these,  a very  large  number  of  affidavits 
have  been  filed  in  court  here  by  the  defendants,  and  some 
(additional  to  those  on  which  the  temporary  injunction 
was  allowed)  have  been  produced. by  the  plaintiff,  to 
maintain  the  allegations  of  this  petition.” 

After  noticing  the  first  two  points  at  length,  the  judge 
. decides  on  the  third  point  of  the  case  as  follows : — 

“ But  there  is  another  ground,  which,  in  my  judg- 
ment, effectually  disposes  of  this  motion.  That  is  the 
third,  viz. : That  the  allegations  of  the  petition  are  not 
true.  He  alleges  that  he  kept  a house  where  he  con- 
ducted business  according  to  law.  From  the  nature  of 
the  case,  the  character  of  this  business  in  this  respect  is 
directly  in  issue*  and  from  the  proof  it . is  perfectly  clear 
to  my  mind  that  instead  of  this  it  was  a place  where 
intoxicating  liquors  were  habitually  sold,  in  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  state,  and  where  gambling  was  constantly 
being  carried  on. 

“ Such  a place  as  this  our  statute  expressly  declares  to 
be  a public  nuisance,  and  which  being  shown  in  a proper 
case  would  have  to  be  ordered  by  the  court  to  be  shut 
up.  Now,  the  doctrine  is  perfectly  well  settled  that  a 
nuisance,  either  public  or  private,  may  be  abated  even 
by  force,  so  no  breach  of  the  peace  is  committed.  Surely, 
then,  the  means  used  here,  with  the  view  of  .abatuig  tliis 
nuisance,  were  not  malawful  or  in  derogation  of  the 
rights  of  the  plaintiff ; for,  as  the  keeper  of  such  an  estab- 
lishment, the  maintainer  of  a public  nuisance,  and  a 
gambling-housQ,  he  can-have  no  standing  in  a court  of 
equity,  when  he  asks  to  be  protected  in  his  unlawful  and 
criminal  business.  The  injunction  will  be  dissolved  at 
plaintiff’s  costs.” 

Thus  the  women  triumphed  in  the  only  injunction 
case  of  the  crusade  that  was  decided  on  its  merits. 


877 


• rrs  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  at  Morrow.  A correspondent, 
Avriting  .from  there  under  the  inspiration  of  the  good 
news,  gives  .the  following  graphic  description  of  tlie 
scene  : — . ' 

“ As  I write  the  band  is  playing  and  marching  through 
our  streets,  folloAved  by  an  immense  throng  of  men, 
women,  and  children,  shouting  and  rejoicing.  Every 
church  bell,  school  bell,  &c.,  in  town  is  ringing,  and  two 
or  three  locomotives  are  creating  a terrible-  noise, 
Avhistling  and  ringing  their  bells.  In  fact,  the  entire 
town  is  wild  with  excitement.  Hundreds  of  country 
people,  hearing  the  noise  of  the  bells  and  general  tumult, 
are  flocking  to  town  from  all  quarters,  many  thinking 
the  villtige  was  in  flames.  An  immense  meeting  is  now 
in  progress  at  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  addition  to  the 
immense  throng  upon  our  streets.  Speeches  arelaeing 
made,  and  cheer  upon  cheer  is  rending  the  air.  Morrow 
never  had  such  an  awakening,  everybody  being  happy 
except  the  ’lawyers  who  defended  Scheide,  and  four  or 
five  saloon  patrons.” 

It  was  too  much  for  Scheide.  He  shut  up  his  estab- 
lishment, and  left  the  town  ; and  thus  ends  the  history 
of  the  “ only  respectable  saloon  in  Morrow.” 

In  connection  with  these  legal  prosecutions  against 
the  women,  it  may  be'  interesting  to  note  one  of  the  few 
instances  where  the  saloonists  were  made  to.  suffer  by  the 
law.  As  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  statutes  of  the 
state,  published  in  the  following  chapter,  no  saloon 
could  carry  on  a paying  business  and  comply  strictly  with 
the  law.  But  there  never  has  been,  in  any  community, 
a public  sentiment  strong  enough  to  enforce  these  laws, 
and  the  result  was,  saloon  keepers,  before  this  temperance 
revival,  had  come  to  look  upon  them  as  -a  dead  letter. 

About  the  time  the  “moral  suasion”  plan  of  Dio 
Lewis  was  put  into  operation  so  successfully  in  Plills- 


378 


rNTEMPERANCE, 


boro’,  Washington,  and  Wilmington,  Lebanon  resolved  to 
suppress  the  evil  by  legal  force.  It  is  interesting  to 
compare  the  results  of  the  two  methods.  Lebanon  is 
one  of  the  staid,  virtuous  old  towns  of  Ohio,  cut  off  from 
railroads  and  their  attendant  evils,  and  boasting  four 
thousand  inhabitants,  nine  churches,  and  (untiH-ecently) 
three  saloons.  The  temperance  fires  have  been  kept 
burning  there  from  the  earliest  times,  and  years  ago  the 
village  corporation  passed  ordinances  forbidding  the  sale 
of  ale  and  beer,  and  prohibiting  the  keeping  open  of 
tippling-houses.  A few  cases  were  tried  when  the  ordi- 
nances were  new,  but  they  gradually  fell  into  disuse  and 
were  forgotten.  But  there  came,  early  in  the  winter  of 
1873,  a deep  religious  awakening,  and,  following  close 
npon  it,  a revival  of  public  sentiment  on  the  subject  of 
temperance.  Some  one  thought  of  the  rusty  old  ordi- 
nances, and  it  was  determined  to  bring  them  out  and  see 
how  they  would  work. 

John  Braden,  Henry  Glady,  and  Nathan  Woods  were 
the  three  members  of  tlie  liquor  selling  fraternitju  They 
were  shrewd  men  fo  deal  with,  and  though  every  one 
knew  they  were  selling  daily,  in  violation  of  the  law,  it 
was  not  so  easy  a matter  to  make  a good  case  against 
them.  Foreseeing  difficulties  of  this  kind,  the  3'oung 
Congregational  minister.  Rev.  E.  B.  Burrows,  who  was 
a leader  in  the  movement,  quiet!}"  slipped  down  to  Cin- 
cinnati and  employed  the  services  of  a' detective.  The 
stranger  came  to  town,  seemed  a jolly  good  fellow,  loafed 
round  the  saloons,  taking  a daily  diink  at  each  place,  and 
when  the  prosecution  came  on  he  was  ready  to  swear 
that -he  had  drank  for  fifteen  consecutive  days  at  the 
defendants’  bars. 

The  first  cases  were  against  Braden  & Glady,  who 
were  partners,  and  John  Glady,  who  run  a separate  es- 
tablishment alone.  The  immediate  cause  of  the  suit  was 


ITS  ASPECT  AED  ITS  BEMEDY.  ' 


879 


a quarrel  between  Glady  and  one  of  his  customers  and 
chronic  loafers.  The  latter,  to  gratify  his  personal  feel- 
ings, commenced  a prosecution  for  violation  of  the  vil- 
lage ordinance.  Ferd.  Van  Harlingin,  a recently  re- 
formed drunkard,  who  had  once  been  a brilliant  lawyer, 
took  lip  the  cause  and  prosecuted  it  with  all  his  might. 
The  arrests  were  made  quietly,  hut  the  suits  soon  began 
to  attract  the  public  attention.  The  temperance  people 
stepped  in,  and  the  opposition  arrayed  all  their  forces. 
When  the  trial  came  off  in  the  court-house,  the  roughs 
made  an  attempt  to  collect  in  numbers  and  bully  the  case 
through,  in  the  manner  such  suits  were  generally  dis- 
posed of.  But  they  were  met  by  a counteracting  influ- 
ence. The  wealth,  influence,  and  respectability  of  the 
place  turned  out  in  such  force  that  the  court-room  was 
filled  to  overflowing.  The  trials  began  early  in  January, 
and  lasted  a week.  The  saloon  keepers  were  beaten, 
and  got  the  full  extent  of  the  law.  The  firm  Braden  & 
Glady  were  fined  ninety  dollars,  and  ten  days  each  in 
the  calaboose,  and  John  Glady  two  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars,  and  ten  days  in  the  calaboose. 

When  the  bafiied  saloonists  were  languishing  in  their 
cells,  their  views  began  to  moderate.  They  concluded 
they  would  compromise.  A proposition  was  made  by 
Mr.  Glady  (who.  virtually  controlled  both  concerns),  to 
sell  his  real  estate  and  quit  the  business  and  the  place 
providing  the  fines  and  remainder  of  the  imprisonment 
be  remitted.  The  compromise  was  accepted,  and  but 
one  saloon  was  left  in  Lebanon  — that  of  Nate  Woods. 
A suit  was  soon  brought  against  him,  and  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  fine,  and  seven 
days  in  the  jug.  He  served  out  his  term,  paid  his  fines 
and  costs,  and  returned  to  his  business,  but  only  to  sell 
by  the  quantity,  according  to  law. 

This  system  of  selling  according  to  law,  — i.  e.,  not  to  be 


38D 


IKTEMPERANCE, 


drank  on  the  premises,  — which  came  to  he  adopted  by 
frightened  saloon  keepers  in  many  places,  during  the 
progress  of  the  movement,  is  a unique  and  somewhat 
amusing  one.  A shelf  full  of  two-ounce  bottles  is  kept 
all  ready  filled,  and  when  a customer  wants  a single  drink 
one  of  these  bottles  is  sold  him.  The  thirsty  party  then 
retires  around  a corner,  into  an  alley,  or  anywhere  off 
the  premises,  and  takes  his  refreshment.  If  he  has  some 
friends  to  treat,  a number  of  small  bottles  are  bought 
and  distributed  among  the  party.  These  bottles  are 
generally  thrown  away,  and  it  was  said  that  the  small 
boys  at  Lebanon  derived  quite  a revenue  from  picking 
them  up  and  disposing  of  them  at  the  drug  stores. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  this  excellent  law,  which 
has  so  long  lain  unobserved  on  the  statute  books  of  the 
state,  would,  if  enforced,  do  away  Avith  the  Avhole  system 
of  treating, — that  absurd  and  pernicious  American 
pi’actice,  — and  thereby  restrict  the  amount  of  drinking 
by  at  least  one  half.  It  AAmuld  clear  bar-rooms  of  those 
wretched  specimens  of  our  race  who  hang  around,  ex- 
pecting an  invitation  to  drink.’  It  would  suppress  that 
pot-house  sociability  by  which  politicians  buy  their  Avay 
into  office.  It  Avould  save  thousands  of  young  men  from 
forming  an  appetite  for  liquor,  by  drinking  because  their 
companions  do,  Avhether  they  Avant  it  or  not.  It  Avould 
shut  up,  Avithin  a Aveek,  tAvo  thirds  of  all  the  saloons  in 
Ohio.  In  short,  it  Avould  confine  the  whole  business  of 
drinking  to  the  bottle-at-home  plan. 

But  is  it  possible  to  enforce  this  law  ? and,  if  possible, 
is  it  expedient  ? Before  this  temperance  excitement  be- 
gan, there  was  scarcely  a community  in  Ohio  that  con- 
tained moral  force  enough  to  confront  the  liq  ror  men 
with  this  legal  weapon ; now,  there  are  hundreds  of 
places  Avhere  the  law  can  be  carried  into  speedy  execu- 
tion the  moment  there  is  a necessity  for  it.  So  much 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


381 


the  woman’s  movement  has  accomplished,  at  least.  But 
it  is  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  on  which  the 
women  are  working,  that  legal  arguments  shall  only  be 
resorted  to  when  all  others  have  failed.  The  gentle 
method  of  love  generally  does  the  work  much  more  effec- 
tually, and  leaves  behind  it  no  heart-burning  and  hatred. 
Yet,  when  the  present  excitement  has  subsided,  as  it 
eventually  must,  this  wise  provision  of  a past  , genera- 
tion of  legislators  will  be  found  very  convenient  in 
making  permanent  the  victories  of  prayer 'and  song. 


382 


rNTEarPERAircE, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A CHAPTER  OF  TEMPERANCE  LAWS.  — THE  CELEBRATED  ADAIR  AND 

BAXTER  LAWS.  OTHER  MUNICIPAL  AND  STATE  LEGISLATION.  THE 

“ MoCONNELSVILLE  ORDINANCE.”  — HOW  FAR  THE  LAWS  HAVE 
FAILED  IN  EXECUTION,  AND  THE  REASONS  THEREFOR.  — LITIGATION 

UNDER  THE  ADAIR  LAW.  DAMAGES  SELDOM  RECOVERED  IN  THE 

CITIES,  BUT  OFTEN  IN  THE  COUNTRY*  DISTRICTS. 

Thekb  has  been  no  lack  of  legislation  on  the  subject 
of  temperance  for  the  past  twenty  years.  The  statute 
books  of  the  various  states  contain  laws  wisely  framed 
and  properly  enacted,  which  they  know  little,  and  care 
still  less,  about.  What  the  result  of  this  legislation  has 
been,  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  discuss.  License,  pro- 
hibition, restriction,  — every  form  of  law  has  been  tried  ; 
but  Intemperance  stalks  forward,  apparently  unchecked. 
No  fault  can  be  found  with  the  laws  ; the  difficulty  lies 
back  of  them.  People  are  beginning  to  realize  that 
what  is  w'anted  now  is  agitation,  and  not  legislation. 
The  machinery  of  law  may  be  skilfully  constructed  and 
then  set  to  work,  but  unless  it  have  the  motive-power  of 
a strong  and  healthy  popular  sentiment,  it  will  not  grind 
out  a temperance  commonwealth,  or  make  the  individual 
more  virtuous. 

Allusion  has  been  so  frequently  made  to  the  statutes 
of  the  state  on  the  subject  of  temperance,  that  it  may 
be  well,  before  proceeding  farther,  to  give  a summary 
of  some  of  the  principal  liquor  laws  now  existing. 

In  1857,  when  the  new  constitution  of  Ohio  was  pre- 
sented to  the  people  for  adoption  or  rejection,  au  addi- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


383 


tional  section  was  submitted,  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing an  expression  of  the  electors  on  the  subject  of  license 
and  prohibition,  by  a separate  ballot.  This  section  was 
in  the  following  w6rds : — 

“ No  license  to  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  shall  here- 
after be  granted  in  this  state ; but  the  General  Assembly 
may,  by  law,  provide  against  the  evils  resulting  there- 
from.” 

The  vote  of  the  people  on  this  question  resulted  as 
follows:  License  to  sell — No,  113,239  ; yes,  104,255  ; 
majority  for  no  license,  8,984.  It  thus  became  a consti- 
tutional provision  that  the  legislature  was  incompetent 
to  license  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  for  the  next 
twenty  years.  Popular  sentiment,  at  that  time,-  was 
strong  upon  the  temperance  question,  and  the  proposition 
to  license  was  voted  down  by  this  large  majority,  not- 
withstanding the  recent  influx  of  foreigners. 

The  first  legislature  which  assembled  under  this -new 
constitution  passed  a bill  (May  1,  1854  — Swan  & 
Critchfield,  vol.-ii.,  p.  1431),  which  has  been  the  basis 
of  all  subsequent  legislation  in  Ohio.  The  provisions 
of  that  statute  were  briefly  as  follows : — 

Section  1.  Tho  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  to  be 
drank  on  the  premises  where  sold,  or  in  any  adjoining 
room,  or  place  of  resort,  connected  with  such  building, 
was  prohibited. 

Sect.  2.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person,  by  agent 
or  otherwise,  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors  to  minors,  unless 
upon  the  written  order  of  their  parents  or  guardians,  or 
family  physician. 

Sect.  3.  This  section  prohibits  the  sale  of  liquors  to 
any  person  intoxicated,  or  who  is  in  the  habit  of  becom- 
ing intoxicated. 

Sect.  4.  All  places  where  liquors  are  sold  in  violation 
of  this  act  shall  be  declared  public  nuisances,  and  abated 


884 


INTEIVIPEEANCE, 


as  such,  and  the  keeper  thereof  punished  as  hereinafter 
provided. 

Sect.  5.  Any  person  who  shall,  by  the  sale  of  liquors, 
cause  the  intoxication  of  any  other  person,  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  a reasonable  compensation  to-  any  one  -who 
shall  take  charge  of  such  intoxicated  person,  and  one 
dollar  per  da}"  additional  for  every  day  he  shall  be  kept; 
Avhich  suins  may  be  recovered  by  any  court  having  juris- 
diction. 

Sect.  6.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  get 
intoxicated,  and  every  person  found  in  a state  of  in- 
toxication shall,  on  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  five 
dollars. 

Sect.  7.  This  section  provides  that  any  wife,  child, 
parent,  guardian,  employer,  or  other  person  injured  in 
his  or  her  means  of  support  by  such  intoxication,  may 
bring  an  action  for  damages  against  the  person  selling 
the  liquor.  (The  Adair  law,  hereinafter  given,  is  a sub- 
stitute for  this  section  of  the  statute.) 

Sect.  8.  Section  eight  provides  penalties  for  the  vio- 
lation of  the  first,  second,  and  third  sections  of  this  act, 
and  Avas  amended  in  1859. 

Sect.  9.  The  giving  a\vay  of  intoxicating  liquors,  or 
any  other  shift  or  device  to  evade  the  provisions  of  the 
act,  shall  be  held  unlawful  selling. 

Sect.  10.  This  ]U’ovides  for  the  collection  of  fines, 
stating  who. and  Avhat  are  liable,  and  Avas  repealed  by 
the  Adair  hiAv,  passed  in  1870. 

Sect.  11.  All  prosecutions  under  this  act  shall  be  in 
the  name  of  the  state,  and  shall  be  begun  upon  a Avritten 
complaint,  under  oath  or  affirmation,  before  any  justice 
of  the  peace,  or  mayor  of  the  toAvn,  village,  or  city  cor- 
poration Avithin  Avhich  the  offence  Avas  committed,  or  by 
information  or  indictment. 

Sect.  12  states  the  form  of  complaint  in  such  proceed- 
ings. 

Sect.  13.  In  these  prosecutions,  it  shall  not  be  neces- 
sary to  state  the  kind  of  liquors  sold,  or  to  describe 
the  place  where  sold ; and  for  any  A'iolation  of  the  fourth 
section,  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to  state  to  AA'hom  sold ; 
and  in  all  cases  the  person  or  persons  to  whom  intoxi- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIVIEDY.  385 

eating  liquors  shall  be  sold,  in  violation  of  this  act,  shall 
be  competent  as  witnesses  to  prove  such  fact,  or  any 
other  tending  thereto. 

Sect.  14  repeals  all  previous  statutes  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. 

With  the  exception  of  some  unimportant  amendments, 
this  was  the  only  legislation  in  reference' to  selling  and 
drinking  intoxicating  liquors  in  Oliio  until  April  18, 
1870:  The  General  Assembly  then  passed,  by  a close 
vote,  the  bill  which  has  attracted  so  mirch  attention  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Adair  law.  Owing  to  its  important 
bearings  on  the  present  woman’s  movement,  and  frequent 
reference  made  to  it,  we  herewith  append  the  full  text 
of  the  bill : — 

THE  ADAIR.  LAW. 

Be  it  enacted.,  ^c.,  that  sections  seven  and  ten  of 
the  above-recited  act  be  so  amended  as  to  read  as  fol- 
lows : — . . 

Section  7.  That  every  husband,  wife,  child,  parent, 
guardian,  or  employer,  or  other  person,  who  shall  be  in- 
jured in  person  or  property,  or  means  of'support,  by  any 
intoxicated  person,  or  in  consequence  of  the  intoxication, 
habitual  or  otherwise,  of  any  person,  such  wife,  child, 
parent,  guardian,  emj)loyer,  or  other  person,  shall  have  a 
right  of  action  in  his  or  her  own  name,  severall}"  or 
jointly,  against  any  person  or  persons  who  shall,  by 
selling  or  giving  intoxicating  liquors,  have  caused  the 
intoxication,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  such  person  or  per- 
sons . 

And  the  owner  of,  lessee,  or  person  or  persons  rent- 
ing 01'  leasing  any  building  or  premises,  having  knowl- 
edge that  intoxicating  liquors  are  to  be  sold  therein,  in 
violation  of  the  law  ; or,  having  leased  the  same  for  other 
purposes,  shall  knowingly  permit  intoxicating  liquors  to 
be  sold  in  such  building  or  premises,  that  have  caused  the 
intoxication,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  any  such  person  or 
persons,  shall  he.  liable,  severally,  or  jointly  with  the 
persons  selling  or  giving  the  intoxicating  liquors  afore- 


386 


INTEMPERAITCE, 


said,  for  all  damages  sustained,  as  well  as  exemplary- 
damages.  • 

And  a married  woman  shall  have  the  same  right 
to  bring  suits,  and  contest  the  same,  and  the  amount 
recovered,  as  a feme  sole ; and  all  damages  recovered 
by  a minor  under  this  act  shall  be  paid  either  to 
the  minor,  or  to  his  or  her  parent,  guardian,  or  next 
friend,  as  . the  court  may  direct ; and.  the  unlawfid  sale 
or  giving  away  of  intoxicatkig  liquors  shall  work  a for- ' 
feiture  of  all  rights  of  the  lessee,  or  tenant,  .under  any 
lease  or  contract  of  rent  upon  any  premises  where 
such  unlawful  sale  or  giving  away  shall  take  place  ; and 
all  suits  for  damages  under  this  act  shall  be  by  a civil 
action  in  any  of  the  courts  of  this  state  having  juris- 
diction thereof. 

Sect.  10.  For  all  fines,  costs,  and  damages  assessed 
against  any  person  or  persons  in  consequence  of  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors,  as  provided  in  section  seven  of 
this  act,  and  the  act  to  which  this  is  amendatory,  the 
real  estate  or  personal  property  of  such  person  or  per- 
sons, of  every  kind,  without  exception  or  exemijtion, 
except  under  the  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  an  act  to 
regulate  judgments  and  executions  by  law.  passed  !March 
1,  1831,  passed  March  9,  1840,  took  effect  March  15, 
1840,  shall  be  liable  for  the  payment  thereof;  and  such 
fines,  costs,  and  damages  shall  be  a lien  upon  such  real 
estate  until  paid;  and  in  case  any  person  or  persons  shall 
rent  or  lease  to  another,  or  others,  any  building  or 
premises  to  be  used  or  occupied,  in  whole  or  in  ]iart,  for 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  or  shall  permit  the  same 
to  be  so  used  or  occupied,  in  whole  or  in  part,  such 
building  or  premises  so  leased,  used,  or  occupied  shall  be 
held  liable  for,  and  may  be  leased  to  pay  all  fines,  costs, 
and  damages  assessed  against  any  person  or  persons  oc- 
cupying such  building  or  premises. 

And  proceedings  may  be  had  to  subject  the  same  to 
the  payment  of  any  such  fine,  and  costs  assessed,  or 
judgment  recovered,  which  remained  unpaid,  or  any 
part  thereof,  either  before  or  after  execution  shall  issue 
against  the  property  of  the  person  or  persons  against  whum 
such  fines  and  costs  or  judgment  shall -have  been  ad- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


387 


judged  or  assessed ; and  when  execution  shall  issue 
against  the  property  so  leased  or  rented,  the  officer  shall 
proceed  to  satisfy  said  execution  oiit  of  the  building  or 
premises  so  leased  or  occupied,  as  aforesaid  ; and  in  case 
such  building  or  premises  belong  to  a minor,  insane  person, 
or  idiot,  the  guardian  of  such  minor,  insane  person,  or  idiot, 
who  has  control  of  such  building  or  premises,  shall  be 
liable  to  account  to  his  or  her  ward  for  all  damages  on 
account  of  such  use  and  occupation  of  the  building  or 
premises,  and  the  liabilities  for  the  fines,  costs,  and 
damages  aforesaid  ; and  all  eontracts  whereby  any 
building  or  premises  shall  be  rented  or  leased,  and  the 
same  shall  be  used  or  occupied,  in  whole  or  in  part,  for 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  shall  be  void,  and  the 
(lessee)  person  or  persons  renting  or  leasing  said  build- 
ing or  premises  shall,  on  and  after  the  selling  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors  aforesaid,  be  considered  and  held  to  be  in 
possession  of  said  building  or  premises. 

This  bill,  which  went  into  effect  July  4,  1870,  made 
the  business  of  keeping  a saloon  a precarious  and  un- 
profitable one,  where  the  law  was  complied  with.- 

SELLING  TO  MINORS  AND  DRUNKARDS. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  that  it  shall  be  uidawful  for  any 
person  or  persons  to  buy  for  or  furnish  to  any  person 
who  is  at  the  time  intoxicated,  or  in  the  habit  o-f  getting- 
intoxicated,  or  to  buy  for  or  furnish  to  any  minor,  to  be 
drank  by  such  minor,  any  intoxicating  liquors  whatso- 
ever, unless  given  b}^  a physician  in  the  regular  line  of 
his  practice. 

Sect.  2.  That  for  every  violation  of  the  provisions  of 
the  first  section  of  this  act,  every  person  so  offending 
shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  forfeit  and  pay  a fine  of 
not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or 
be  imprisoned  in  the  jail  of -the  county  for  not  less  than 
ten  nor  more  than  thirty  days,  or  both  of  them,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court,  and  shall  pay.  the  costs  of  the 
prosecution. 

[Passed  and  took  effect  April  5,  1866.]* 


388 


INTEISIPEEANCE,  • 


EIOTIITG  AND  DRUNKENNESS  IN  TAVERNS. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  A-ssembl}^  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  that  if  any  tavern  keeper  shall  per- 
mit or  allow  any  kind  of  rioting  or  revelling,  intoxication 
or  drunkenness,  in  his  house,  or  on  his  premises,  every 
such  tavern  keeper  shall,  for  every  such  offence,  on  con- 
viction, be  fined  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than,  one 
hundred  dollars. 

[Passed  and  took  effect  February  27,  1867.] 

TO  BE  GIVEN  IN  ‘CHARGE  TO  GRAND  JURY. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  that  the  act  entitled  “ An  act  to  pro- 
vide against  the  evils  resulting  from  the  sale  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors  in  the  State  of  Ohio,”  passed  May  1, 
1854,  shall  be  given  in  special  charge  to  the  grand  jury  by 
the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  each  term 
thereof. 

[Passed  and  took  effect  March  8,  1865.] 

MUNICIPAL  CORPORATION  ACT. 

Section  199.  (As  amended  April  1 8, 1870.)  All  cities 
and  incorporated  villages  shall  have  the  general  powers 
hereinafter  mentioned,  and  may  provide  b}'  ordinance  for 
the  exercise  of  the  same.  ...  ' • 

Paragraph  5.  To  regulate,  restrain,  and  prohibit  ale, 
beer,  and  porter  houses,  and  places  of  notorious  or  ha- 
bitual resort  for  tippling  or  intemperance.  . . . 

[Passed  May  7,  1869.] 

Under  the  authority  given  in  the  above  act,  the  incor- 
porated village  of  McConnelsville,  Ohio,  jxissed  the  fol- 
lowing 2:)rohibitory  ordinance,  which  has  ‘been  declared 
constitutional  by  the.  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  and  all 
parties  interested  may  make  use  of  it  to  the  advantage 
'of  their  own  localities  : — 

THE  “ McCONNELSVILLE  ORDINANCE.” 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  b}’  the  Council  of  the  incor- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  389 

porated  village  of  McConnelsville,  Ohio,  that  it  shall  be 
unlawful  for  any  person  or  persons  to  keep  within  the 
said  incorporated  village  of  McConnelsville  any  house, 
room,  shop,  booth,  arbor,  celhir,  or.  place  of  habitual  re- 
sort for  tippling  or  intemperance. 

Sect.  Be  it  further  ordained,  that  it  shall  be  un- 
lawful for  any  person  or  persons  to  keep  within  the  said 
incorporated  village  of  McConnelsville  a house,  shop, 
room,  booth,  arbor,  cellar,  or  place  where  ale,  porter,  or 
beer  is  habitually  sold  or  furnished  to  be  drank  in,  upon, 
or  about  the  house,  shop,  room,  booth,  arbor,  cellar,  or 
place  where  so  sold  or  furnished. 

Sect.  3.  And  be  it  further  ordained,  that  for  any  vio- 
lation of  the  first  section  of  this  ordinance,  the  person 
or  persons  so  offending  shall,  upon  conviction,  forfeit  and 
pay  a fine  of  not  less  than  ten  dollars,  or  more  than  fifty 
dollars,  and  shall  also  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail 
for  a period  not  exceeding  thirty  days..  That  for  every 
violation  of  the  gecoiid  section  of  this  ordinance,  the 
person  or  persons  so  offending  shall,  upon  conviction, 
forfeit  and  pay  a fine  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars,  and  be 
imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not  exceeding  twenty  days. 

Sect.A.  ■ Be  it  further  ordained,  that  all  prosecutions 
under  this  ordinance  shall  be  in  the  name  of  the  incorpo- 
rated village  of  McConnelsville,  and  shall  be  commenced 
under  a written  complaint,  under  oath  or  affirmation, 
before  the  mayor  of  said  village  ; and,  upon  the  filing 
of  such  complaint,  the  maj’or  shall  issue  a warrant,  di- 
rected to  the  marshal  of  said  village,  for  the  arrest  of 
the  accused.  The  mai’shal  shall  forthwith  arrest  the 
person  thus  charged,  and  bring  the  accused  before  the 
mayor,  who  shall  proceed  as  provided  by  law  f and  the 
mayor,  upon  the  conviction  of  any  person  for  the  viola- 
tion of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  ordinance,  may 
make  it  a part  of  the  sentence  that  the  accused  shall 
stand  committed  to  the  jail  of  the  county  until  the  fine 
and  costs  assessed  against  such  person  shall  be  paid  or 
secured  to  be  paid,  or  otherwise  discharged,  according 
to  law.  ■ 

Sect.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  marshal  and  as- 
sistant marshals  of  said  village  to  make  complaint 


390 


IN'I£3IPEKA2JCE, 


against  all  persons  found  violating  any  of  the  provisions 
of  this  ordinance. 

Sect.  6.  This  ordinance  shall  take  elfect  on  and  after 
its  second,  publication  in  the  Conservative,  a newspaper 
printed  in  said  village  of  McConnelsvile,,  Ohio. 

Javles  WATKms,  Mayor. 

John  H.  Mhebay,  Clerh. 

SELLING  LIQUOR  OR  TRADING  NEAR  CASIP  MEETINGS. 

Section  1.  (As  amended  May  1,  1861.)  Be  it  en- 
acted by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
that  no  person  shall  sell,  or  expose  for  sale,  give,  barter, 
or  otherwise  dispose  of  in  any  way,  or  at  any  place, 
any  spirituous  or  other  liquors,  or  any  articles  of 
traffic,  whatsoever,  at  or  within  the  distance  of  four 
miles  from  the  place,  where  any  religious  society  and  as- 
semblage of  people  are  collected  or  collecting  together 
for  religious  worship  in  any  field  or  woonlland  ; provided, 
that  nothing  in  this  act  shall  affect  tavern  keepers  exer- 
cising their  calling , nor  distillers,  manufacturei’S,  or 
others  in  prosecuting  their  regular  trades  at  their 
places  of  business,  or  any  person  disposing  of  any  ordi- 
nary articles  of  provisions,  excepting  spirituous  liquors, 
at  their  residences ; nor  anj'"  person  having  a written 
permit  from  the  trustees  or  managers  of  any  such  reli- 
gious society  or  assemblage  to  sell  provisions  for  the  sup- 
ply of  persons  attending  such  religious  worship,  their 
horses  or  cattle,  such  persons  acting  in  conformity  to  the 
regulations  of  said  religious  assembly  and  to  the  laws  of 
the  state. 

Sect.  2.’  (This  provides  for  the  manner  of  prosecu- 
tion, &c.,  under  the  above  act.) 

[Passed  and  took  effect  April  12, 1858.] 

SELLING  LIQUORS  ON  ELECTION  DAYS. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Ohio,  that  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any 
person  within  this  state  to  sell,  barter,  or  give  tt,way,  any 


891 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 

spirituous,  vinous,  or  malt,  liquors  on  the  clay  of  any 
election- held  -within  this  state,  under  the  constitution 
or  laws  thereof ; and  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  each 
and  all  persons  who  are  authorized  under  or  by  the  laws 
of  tills  state,  or  the  municip.al  regulations  of  any  city, 
town,  or  village  of  this  state,  to  sell  or  barter  any  spir- 
ituous, vinous,  or  malt  liquors,  to  close  their  respective 
establishments  on  those  days.  Any  person  offending 
against  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  fined  in  any 
sum  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  for  a period 
not  exceeding  ten  days  for  each  offence  so  committed  ; 
and  it*  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  mayors  of  cities  and  in- 
corporated villages  within  this  state,  on  the  da3rs  of  elec- 
tion, as  aforesaid,  to  issue  a proclamation,  warning  the 
inhabitants  of  such  city  or  village  of  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  and  that  all  violations  of  the  same  -will  subject 
the  offender  to  prompt  and  speed}'-  punishment,  and  re- 
quiring marshals  and  police  officers,  under  their  respec- 
tive jurisdictions,  to  close  all  houses  found  violating  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  and  to  report  forthwith  all  viola- 
tions thereof  to  such  mayors. 

Sect  2.  (This  provides  for  the  disposition  of  fines, 
&c.)  ■ 

[Passed  and  took  effect  March  10,  1864.] 

Laws  also  exist  in  relation  to  the  adulteration  of 
liquors  ; to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  guardians  for 
habitual  drunkards  ; and  others,  which . are  not  deemed 
of  sufficient  importance  for  republication  here.  The  city 
of  Cincinnati  has  an  ordinance  making  it  unlawful  to 
sell  liquor  on  Sunday  ; to  allow  revelling,  drunkenness, 
gaming,  or  disorderly  conduct  on  the  premises  of  any 
person  ; to  sell  liquor  to  minors,  or  persons  intoxicated ; 
providing  a penalty  of  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than 
fifty  dollars  for  every  violation  of  the  ordinance,  and 
making  it  the  special  duty  of  the  mayor,  chief  of  po- 
lice, and  other  proper  officers,  to  enforce  such  ordinance 
strictly. 


24 


392 


INTEJIPEIIAXCE, 


THE  INDIAHA  BAXTER  LAW. 

The  Baxter  law  of  Indiana  was  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature on  the  20th  of  February,  1873.  It  is  one  of  the 
' most  unique  and'  interesting  pieces  of  temperance  legis- 
lation ever  adopted.  It  contains  the  main  provisions  of 
the  Adair  law  in  Ohio,  and  several  additional  features 
of  importance.  The  effect  of  this  law,  if  enforced, 
would  be  to  j)lace  ini  the  hands  of  every  community  the 
power  to  regulate  the  liquor  traffic  in  its  midst ; and, 
furthermore,  to  make  the  liquor  seller  liable  for  dam- 
ages. 

Section  1 makes  it  unlawful  for  any  person  to  sell  or 
give  away  intoxicating  liquors,  to  be  drank  on  the  prem- 
ises, until  such  person  has  obtained  a permit  from  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners,  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided. 

Sect.  '2.  Any  person  desiring  a permit  to  sell  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  shall  file  in  the  office  of  the  County  Au- 
ditor, not  less  than  twenty  days  before  the  session  of  tlie 
County  Commissioners,  a petition  in  writing,  stating  his 
ward  or  township,  street,  number,  &c.,  which  petition 
shall  be  signed  by  the  applicant,  and  also  by  a majority 
of  the  degal  voters  of  the  ward  or  township  where  the 
applicant  proposes  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors.  Such 
petition  shall  be  examined  by  the  board,  and  if  found  to 
be  in  proper  'forpi,  the  Auditor  shall  cleliver  to  the  appli- 
cant the  permit  asked  for. 

Sect.  3.  Before  the  granting  of  a permit  by  the  Board 
of  Commissioners,  the  applicant  shall  cause  to  be  exe- 
cuted and  properly  acknowledged,  a bond,  payable  to 
the  State  of  Indiana,  in  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dol- 
lars, Avith  good  freehold  security  thereon,  of  not  less 
than  two  persons,  to  be  approved  by  the  Board,  and  con- 
ditioned for  the  pajunent  of  any  and  aU  fines,  penalties, 
and  forfeitures  for  the  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions 
of  this  act ; and  conditioned  further,  that  the  principals 
and  sureties  therein  named  shall  be  jointly  and  severally 
liable  for  all  damages  which  may  be  inflicted  upon  any 


ITS  ASPECT  Aim  ITS  EEMEDY. 


393 


person  or  property  by  reason  of  such  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors.  Separate  suits  may  be  brought  on  said  bonds 
by  the  person  or  persons  injftred,  but  the  aggregate 
amount  recovered  shall  not  exceed  the  amount  of  three 
thousand  dollars.  In  case  said  bond  shall  be  exhausted 
by  recoveries  .thereon,  a new  bond  shall . be  filed  within 
ten  ‘days,  and  in  default  thereof,  said  permit  shall  be 
deemed  to  be  revoked.  Such  bond  may  be  sued  and 
recovered  upon  in  any  court  having  civil  jurisdiction  in 
the  county,  except  Justices’  Courts. 

Sect.  4.  The  majority  of  votes  cast  in  the  last  pre-  ' 
ceding  congressional  or  municipal  election,  shall  be 
deemed  a majority  of  voters  whose  signatures  are  re- 
quired to  such  permit ; and  any  person  signing  such 
petition,  who  is  not  a legally  qualified  voter,  shall  be 
fined  not  less  than  fifty  dollars,  nor  more  than  one  hun- 
dred dollars. 

Sect.  5.  No  permit  shall  be  granted  for  a longer  or 
shorter  time  than  one  year.  And  it  is  further  provided, 
that  a copy  of  the  order  of  the  commissioners  must  be 
conspicuously  posted  up  in  the  room  where  the  liquors 
are  sold,  and  any  failure  to  comply  with  this  provision 
shall  work  a forfeiture  of  the  permit. 

Sect.  6.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  sell  or 
give  liquors  to  any  minor,  or  to  any  other  person  in  the 
habit  of  getting  intoxicated. 

Sect.  7.  All  places  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold 
in  violation  of  this  ..act  shall  be  closed  as  public  nui- 
sances. ■ . 

Sect.  ^ makes  the  saloon  keeper  liable  for  the  cost  of 
caring  for  an  intoxicated  person. 

Sect.  9 makes  it  unlawful  for  an}'-  person  to  get  intox- 
icated, and  provides  that . any  one  convicted  of  intoxica- 
tion shall  be  required  to  designate  the  person  flom 
whom  he  bought  the  liquors. 

, Sect.  10  prohibits  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  on 
Sunday,  on  Election  days,  on  Christmas  or  Thankgiving 
day,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  on  any  public  holiday. 
It  also  prohibits  the  keeping  open  of  saloons  after  nine 
o’clock  at  night,  and  before  six  o’clock  in  the  morning. 

Sect.  11.  Bartering  or  giving  away  liquors  shall  be 
deemed  the  same  as  selling. 


394 


INTEaiPEPvAifCE, 


Sect.  12  provides  that  any  husband,  wife,  child,  parent, 
guardian,  employer,  &c.,  shall  have 'the  right  of  action 
against  the  seller  of  the  liquor  causing  intoxication. 
(This  corresponds  to  the  similar  provision  in  the  Adair 
law  of  Ohio.)  ■ 

Sect.  13;  In  case  the  intoxicated  person  has  no -rela- 
tive or  other  person  to  bring  action  against,  the  saloon 
keeper  for  injuiy,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Township 
Trustee,  having  in  charge  the  poor,  to  bring  such  action, 
the  money  thus  collected  to  go  to  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
in  that  ward  or  township. 

Sect.  14  to  16  provide  for  the  fines  and  penalties  under 
this  act,  and  for  the  jurisdiction  of  courts. 

Sect.  17.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  anj^  person  to  buy 
for,  or  furnish  to,  any  person  who  is  at  the  time  intoxi- 
cated, or  in  the  habit  of  getting  intoxicated,  or  to  a^y 
minor,  to  be  drank  by  such  intoxicated  person  or  minor, 
any  intoxicating  liquor.  Any  person  violating  this  sec- 
tion shall  be  fined  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  fifty 
dollars. 

Sect.  18.  In  all  prosecutions  under  this  act  it  shall 
not*  be  necessary  to  state  the  kind  of  liquor  sold,  or  to 
describe  the  place  where  sold,  and  it  shall  not  be  neces- 
sary to  state  to  whom  sold ; and  in  all  cases,  the  person 
or  persons  t(i  whom  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold  shall  be 
competent  witnesses  to  prove  such  facts  or  any  tending 
thereto. 

The  remaining  sections  of  the  act  indicate  the  form 
of  complaint,  repeal  all  conflicting  laws,  and  provide 
that  the  act  shall  take  effect  as  soon  as  passed. 

Such  is  the  substance  of  the  tempeii^nce  legislation  in 
the^wo  States  of  Oliio  and  Indiana,  One  would  think 
that  with  such  admirably  constructed  laws,  the  traffic  in 
intoxicating  liquors  must  be  under  perfect  control.  But, 
what  do  we  find  to  be  the  ease  ? Until  quite  recently, 
except  in  isolated  cases,  there  was  scarcely  a pretence 
of  carrying  any  of  these  laws  into  execution.  The  bold 
front  of  the  liquor  interest  presented  too  many  terrors 


ITS  ASPECT  AND.  ITS  REMEDY.  895 

for  private  citizens  to  undertake  prosecutions,  and  the 
officers  to  whom  the  duty  was  delegated,  in  too  many 
instances,  owed  their  election  to  the  very  men  whom 
they  were  expected  to  prosecute.  Moreover,  if  a public 
official  undertook  the  execution  of  the  law,  it  was  rarely 
that  he  found  a public  sentiment  strong  enough  to  sustain 
him  and  keep  him  in  office.  ■ * 

The  Adair  law,  at  this  writing,  has  been  in  force 
nearly  four  years.  It  may  interest  many  to  know  how 
extensive  and  successful  the  litigation  under  it  has  been. 
Upon  the  occasion  of  a woman  obtaining  a verdict  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  in  Cleveland,  recently,  a paper 
in  that  city  made  the  statement  that  that  was  the  only 
instance  in  a large  city  where  damages  had  been  re- 
covered under  the  law.  The  statement  was  somewhat 
startling,  and  thouglf  not  strictly  true,  it  showed  that 
the  law  in  the  cities  is  practically  ineffective.  In  Cin- 
cinnati there  have  only  been  two  or  three  instances 
where  the  plaintiffs  have  recovered,  and  these  only  in 
small  sums.  . Ten  times  that  number . of  actions  have 
been  brought,  but  the  result  has  been,  almost  invariably, 
a compromise,  or  a verdict  for  the  defendants. 

In  the  country,  however,  the  case  is  quite  di^erent. 
Literally,  thousands  of  suits  have  been  brought  by ‘the 
wives  and  children  of  drunkards,  and  in  a good  propor- 
tion of  the  cases, ‘damages,  to  a greater  or  less  extent, 
have  been  recovered.  The  cases  have  been  generally 
contested  with  great  obstinacy,  and  frequently  appealed 
to  higher  courts.  Five  or  six  have  thus  found  their  way 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  which  has  always 
declared  the  Adair  law  constitutional  in  every  particular. 
In  regard  to  the  last  section  of  the  law,  which  declares 
a lease  to  a liquor  seller,  selling  contrary  to  law,  invalid, 
it  has  been  decided  that  to  set  aside  such  lease  a sepa- 
rate suit  must  be  brought. 


396 


INTEMPEEA2nCE, 


In  Indiana  the  experience  has  been  very  similar  to 
th^it  of  Ohio.  In  the  country  districts  the  law  has  been 
quite  readily  and  thoroughly  enforced  ; in  the  cities  it 
has,  so  far,  proved  a total  failure.  The  bold  and  in- 
genious methods  by  which  * the  saloon  keepers  have 
dodged  the  law  will  he  found  in  a subsequent  chapter 
Oil  the  work  in  Indiana. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


397 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  TRIUMPHAL  MARCH  OP  DIO  LEWIS.  — THE  MAN  AND  HIS  OPINIONS.  — 
THE  XENIA  MASS  MEETING.  — INAUGURATION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  SPRING- 
FIELD,  LEBANON,  MOUNT  VERNON,  ETC.  — MOTHER  STEWART,  THE 

SPRINGFIELD  J.EADER.  INTERVIEWS  WITH  SALOON  KEEPERS.  WHY 

THE  MASS  MEETING  AJ  COLUMBUS  FAILED.  THANKSGIVING  JUBILEE 

AT  WASHINGTON  COURT  HOUSE.  THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  XENIA, 

MOUNT  VERNON,  ETC. — REMARKABLE  SURRENDER  OF  THE  SHADES  OP 
DEATH. 

On  the  last  day  of  January  Dio  Lewis  wrote  from 
Boston  to  the  Cincinnati  papers  that  he  conld  no  longer 
deny  himself  a visit  to  the  front.  Soon  after  his  lecture 
at  Washington- Court  House  he  had  returned  east,  little 
expecting  that  the  movement  he  had  inaugurated  was 
destined  to  reach  such  stupendous  proportions.  It  was 
an  experiment  that  he  had  often  tried  during  the  last, 
nineteen  years,  but  he  had  never  before  met  the  women 
with  the  moral  courage  to  carry  it  through.  Southern 
Ohio  was  the  first  soil  he  had  found  where  his  temperance 
plant  would  grow ; and  its  growth  had  been  a marvel 
alike  to  him.  and  to  the  whole  world.  After  watching 
the  battle  for  a while  at  a distance,  he  determined  to 
enter  the  field  and  lend  a helping  hand  “ where  the 
movement  had  not  yet  been  fairly-  inaugurated,  or 
where  another  soldier  might  help  to  turn  the  fortunes  of 
the  day.” 

Let  us*take  a general  survey  of  the  field  at  this  time. 
The  excitement  had  penetrated  every  corner  of  South- 
ern Ohio,  and  was  spreading  rapidly  northward,  and  into 


898 


INTEJIPEEAisCE, 


other  states.  It  was  the  prominent  topic  of  conversa- 
tion everywhere.  People  who  ridiculed  the  movement 
at  first,  as  a species  of  fanaticism,  now  saw  it  growing 
into  a great  social  revolution.  Nowhere  had  the  women 
been  vanquished,  thus  far,  in  a fair  fight  with  whiskey. 
They  had  achieved  the  most  astonishing  victories  over 
stubborn  saloon  keepers,  and  b}'-  their  very  success  com- 
pelled the  respect  of  their  opponents.  Just  about  this 
time  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  published  statistics  from 
about  twenty-five  towns,  showing  that  one  hundred  and 
nine  saloons  had  been  closed,  and  twenty-two  drug  stores 
pledged  to  sell  no  intoxicating  hquor.  • 

Such  was  the  general  situation  on  the  9th  of  February, 
when  Dio  Lewis  arrived  in  Cincinnati.  Of  course  he 
was  straightway  “interviewed”  by  reporters  of  the  city 
press,  and  appropriately  written  up.  In  person  he  was 
found  to  be  a fine  specimen  of  the  physical  man,  six  feet 
in  height,  with  a muscular  develoiDment  and  freshness  of 
appearance  that  was  a walking  argument  in  favor  of  liis 
great  'theory  — temperance.  His  mental  faculties  were 
also  about  as  well  developed  as  his  physical.  He  had 
decided  views  about  the  whole  question,  and.  was  never 
at  a loss  for  words  or  facts  to  sustain  them.  The  re- 
portorial  gimlet  was  first  applied  in  relation  to  the  legal 
cases,  an  outline,  of  which  has  been  given  in  a previous 
chapter.  The  following  was  the  result : — 

“ There  never  was  a day  since  this  movement  wa^  in- 
augurated that  presented  such  a golden  opportunity  as 
that  now  ofPered  to  the  ladies  of  "Washington  and  Hills- 
boro’. For  years  these  saloon  men  Rave  been  violating 
every  law  of  God  and  man,  and  the  men  have  treated  it 
hghtly.  Now  the  ladies,  in  this  hohest  of  causes  of  mere 
human  interest,  have  violated  some  technicality  f-the  law, 
the  mighty  law,  is  • appealed  to  at  once.  Now  let  the 
ladies  prove  equal  to  the  occasion  — go  two  hundred 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


399 


strong,  and  kneel  and  pray  before  Dr.  Dunn’s  store,  and 
then  submit  to  the  law.  The  blood  of  the  martyr  is  the 
seed  of  the  church.  Is  there  a judge  in  Ohio  that  would 
consign  them  to  prison,  or  a constable  that  would  execute 
such  a decree  ? Then  should  the  ladies  submit  and  take 
imprisonment,  for  rest  assured  it  will  not  be  long ; then 
every  man  in  Ohio,  who  has  a spark  of  manliness  in  him, 
would  burn  with  shame,  and  the  free  men  of  this  state 
would  rise  in  their  might,  and  say.  This  traffic  in  death 
shall  be  crushed  out.” 

Subsequent  to  this  Dr.  Lewis  modified  his  view  in  this 
respect,  and  counselled  obedience  to  the  laws.  The  doc- 
tor continued : — 

“It  is  safe  to  say  that  three  fourths  of  the  men  and 
nineteen  twentieths  of  the  ladies  are  in  favor  of  strong 
temperance  measures,  if  they  could  be  got  at  without 
entangling  side  issues.  But  why  is  not  this  sentiment 
put  into  action  ? A has  a business  ; his  eye  is  on  that.  B 
has  a shop  ; his  eye  is  there.  C and  D have  farm  and  mer- 
chandise ; and  they  go  their  ways,  saying,  ‘ It’s  a pity,  a 
great  pity  that  men  will  debase  themselves t but  it  always 
has  been  so,  and  always  will.’  But  let  them  see  a band 
of  women  praying,  singing,  pleading  with  the  rum  sellers, 
and  all  at  once  this  latent  sentiment  springs  into  life. 
The  man  and  the  citizen  is  shamed,  and  the  Christian 
and  patriot  alarmed,  for  their  country,  an3^  every  one  is 
impelled ’to  do  his  best.  And  that  is  why  I justify  this 
mode'  of  fighting  intemperance.  I know  it  is  not  nice. 
It  would  be  much  pleasanter  for  those  ladies  to  sit  at 
home  and  talk  about  the  evils  of  intemperance.  But  must 
they  sit  at  home  while  brothers  perish  ? No  they  must 
come  out  and  waken  the  moral  sense  of  the  community. 
Why,  we  are  not  talking  to  convince' people  of  the 
evils  of  intemperance.  That  would  be  a pure  waste  of 
time.  We  want  them  to  act — act  on  what  they  already 
know.”  * • • • 


400 


lNTEjSIPERA]SrCE, 


Next  day  the  temperance  party  started  on  its  travels. 
It  consisted,  of  Dr.  Lewis,  the  noted  Van  Pelt,  who  went 
along  in  the  double  capacity  of  lecturer  and  “ horrible 
•example,”  and  four  members  of  the  press,  represent- 
ing the  Cincinnati  daihes  and  the  New  York  Tribune. 
The  destination  was  Xenia,  where  a rousing  mass  meet- 
ing was  to  be  held  the  same  night.  JVhen  the  cars 
reached  Loveland,  Dr.  Lewis  was  handed  a despatch 
asking  him  to  step  off  at  Morrow,  and  give  the  labor- 
ers some  advice  and  encouragement.  He  answered  yes, 
and  at  three  o’clock  the  whole  party  alighted.  A 
prayer  meeting  was  then  in  progress  at  the  door  of  Max 
Goepper’s  saloon.  It  was  a strange  picture  to  look 
upon.  At  o'ne  door  of  the  saloon  was  a woman  with 
hands  raised  in  prayer  ; at  another,  the  proprietor  was 
jDlacidly  smoking  a cigar,  and  trying  to  force  a smile  of 
contempt  and  unconcern,  while  all  about  w-ere  moving 
trains  and'hundreds  of  bystanders. 

The  meeting  came  to  order,  and  Van  Pelt  was  loudly 
called  for.  Thereupon  the  converted  rum  seller  came, 
forward,  and,  .with  a preparatory  clearing  of  the  throat, 
launched  out  upon  the  first  temperance  speech  of  the 
tour.  Barring  the  unreportable  mistakes  of  grammar, 
and  twisting  of  the  king’s  English,  he  spoke  substantially 
as  folloAvs : — 

“ Ladies  and  Gentlemen : As  by  request  I will  give 
you  a little  of  my  experience  as  a saloon  keeper,  and 
then  pass  on  to  some  arguments  to  show  that  the  ardent 
is  one  of  the  greatest  curses  of  the  land,  and  that  the 
labors  of  these  women  are  destined  to  sweep  it  out  of 
our  midst.  As  a saloon  keeper  I could  bring  up  many 
dreadful  acts  during  my  experience.  When  I look  back, 

I can’t  ^ee  how  any  man  can  keep  up  the  business  of 
selling  liquor.  I will  suppose  myself  in  my  own  saloon. 

I will  pass  behind  the  bar  with  a smile,  meeting  my  cug- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


401 


•tomer  with  a decanter ; and,  as  he  gulps  down  the  liquid 
poison,  I look  at  the  man ; I see  that  God  has  endowed 
him  with  all  the  strength  of  manhood  ; that  perhaps  he 
has  been  raised  in  good  society.  Then  I look  at  him 
after  a few  years  have  passed.  See  his  emaciated  form 
and  tattered  clothes  ! Could  one  believe  that  he  was 
once  the  pride  of  the  society  of  the  place  ? And  this  is 
but  a case  out  of  ten  thousand.  Many  have  I thus  started 
on  the  road  to  ruin,  and  led  on  down  the  broad  way. 
Now,  when  he  thinks  of  this,  is  there  a man  who  can 
stand  and  deal  out  these  liquors  ? It  is  hard  for  me  to 
follow  my  own  experience.  When  1 look  back,  it  seems 
as  if  only  a monster  could  do  the  things  I have  done. 
Yet  men  are  doing  this  every  day. 

“ Now,  to  our  dear'  sisters  who  are  laboring  in  the 
cause,  I will  say  that  they  have  the  greatest  reason  to’ 
labor  on.  Take  a mother  who  has  pleaded  with  her 
erring  son,  and  then  just  when  she  has  persuaded  him  to 
leave  his  wickedness,  a tempting  companion,  or  a saloon- 
ist,  leads  him  astray  again.  How  many  such  cases  there 
are  ! Why,  then,  shouldn’t  our  sisters  and  mothers  work 
in  the  cause  ? I don’t  believe  there  is  a saloon  keeper 
in  the  United  States  bxit  that  believes  he  is  shortening 
the  lives  of  his  fellow-creatures  just  to  fill  his  own  coffers. 
W e might  enter  into  arguments  to  show  the  saloon  keep- 
ers that  they  are  wrong ; but  they  are  already  satisfied 
of  that.” 

He  was  listened  to  with  great  interest  by  the  crowd, 
who  were  curious  to  hear  the  man  whose  wickedness 
had  given  him  a reputation  almost  national.  Dr.  Lewis 
then'  spoke  a few  feeling  words,  and  all  adjoiirned  to  the 
Methodist  church,  where  both  Lewis  and  Van  Pelt  again 
■ made  speeches. 

The  party  arrived  in  Xenia  in  time  to  face  an  immense 
audience  assembled  to  hear  the  noted  temperance  apos- 
tles in  the  City  Hall.  This  meeting  we  reproduce  at 
length,  as  a good  representative  of  its  class  during  the 
whole  campaign. 


402 


INTEMPERAJTCE, 


Van  Pelt  was  the  first  speaker.  After  some  general* 
arguments  in  favor  of  temperance,  in  which  he  was  not 
very  successful,  he  proceeded  with  an  inside  view  of  the 
campaign  in  New  Vienna,  from  the  saloon  keepers’  stand- 
point, telling  how  they  met  often  to  consult ; how  the;^ 
waited  for  .the  women  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  the  law ; 
how  one  after  another  of  his  colleagues  went  over,  leav- 
ing him  at  last  alone  in  the  fight,  and  how,  at  length,  he 
saw  his  wretched  business  in  its  true  light,  and  resolved 
to  give  it  uj).  He  gave  a sample  of  his  bravado  speeches 
to  the  ladies,  day  after  day,  and  made  the  statement  that 
Cincinnati  dealers  offered  to  supply  him  with  liquors  for 
a year,  if  he  would  only  stick  it  out.  By  way  of  perora- 
tion, he  told  the  story  of  his  surrender,  which  produced 
a storm  of  applause.  The  climax  was  impressively  re- 
lated in  the  following  words  : — 

“ Then  I told  all  the  men  to  retire,  for  this  was  the 
ladies’  victory.  I would  surrender  to  no  man,  but  to 
them ; and  I took  that  old  meat-axe  that  I s’pose  j'ou’ve 
all  read  of  [laughter],  that  I had  threatened  the  same 
ladies  with,  and  knocked  in  the  heads  of  the  barrels,  and 
let  the  old  serpent  flow  into  the  gutter.” 

Dr.  Lewis  was  then  introduced  to  the  audience,  and 
plunged  at  once  into  the  subject,  by  stating  that  he  con- 
sidered this ‘the  most  important  meeting  ever  held  in 
Xenia  ; “ and,”  he  continued,  “ I feel  a deep  anxiety  lest 
the  little  I have  to  say  shall  not  be  well  said,  for  this  ipove- 
ment  of  the  praying  women  of  Ohio  has  got  beyond  the 
direction  of  any  one  man ; its  control  belongs  only  to 
God.”  Some  startling  s'tatements  from  various  judges 
were  then  presented  as  to  the  proportion  of  crimes 
caused  by  intoxication,  the  speaker  having  the  testimony 
of  nineteen  eminent  jurists,  none  of  whom  were  temper- 
ance men.  In  a meeting  he  attended  the  other  day,  a 
clergyman  had  recommended  the  introduction  of  the 


- ITS  ASPECT  AISTD  ITS  REMEDY. 


403 


light  Tpines  of  France  and  Germany  to  suppress  our  fiery 
stimulants  ; “ but,”  said  the  doctor,  “ I would  not  walk 
across  the  street  to  aid  any  temperance  reform  that  did 
not  plant  its  two  feet  square  on  the  rock  of  total  absti- 
nence. [Applause.] 

“ Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  has  stood  for  twenty  years  dkectlj'’ 
in  the  path  of  the  temperance  reformation  of  New  Eng- 
land by  his  position  on  this  subject.  Said  he,  ‘ You  are 
not  going  to  work  in  the  right  way ; men  will  have  stim- 
ulants of  some  kind ; the  desire  for  them  is  as  natural  as 
for  air  and  sunlight.  In  Southern  Europe  every  one 
drinks  his  half  pint  or  pint  of  wine  daily,  and  is  the  better 
for  it.  Let  us  induce  our  people  to  use  these  stimulants, 
and  all  will  be  well.”  At  last  Dr.  Holland  went  to  Eu- 
rope; and  what  did  he  see?  He  is  a man  that  prides 
himself  on  his  consistency.  A great  deal  of  his  time  is 
taken  up  in  proving  that  he  does-  not  change ; that  he 
thinks  just  as  he  did  seventeen  hundred  years  ago  — 
more  or  less.  But  when  he  got  to  Southern  Europe,  he 
took  the  back  track  for  the  first  time,  so  far  as  I know, 
in  his  life.  Said  he,  ‘ God  forbid  that  the  drinking  cus- 
toms of  my  country  should  be  changed  for  those  of  this 
land  ! Bad  as  they  are  there,  they  are  worse  here.’  I 
too  went  to  Snuthern  Europe,  where  men  use  these  light 
wines.  And  what  is  the  secret  of  their  demoralization 
there  ? The  women  drink  ! ! every  woman,  as  well  as 
every  man ; and  during  the  time  I was  there,  I never 
heard^a  woman  deeline  to  clrink,  except  because  of  sick- 
ness ; and  one  hour  after  dinner  you  could  see  the  effects 
of  wine-drinking  in  the  face  and  eye  of  every  woman  of 
the  company.  And  it  is  only  because  the  praying  moth- 
ers and  faithful  wives  of  Ohio  do  not  drink,  that  they 
hate,  loathe,  abhor  the  deadly  stuff,  that  they  fight  it  from 
their  houses  as  the  presenee  of  death,  that  any  such 
movement  as  this  is  possible.” 


404 


rNTEMPEEANCB, 


A scathing  criticism  of  moderate  drinkers  followed. 

“ Who,”  he  asked,  “ set  the  example  which  young  drink- 
ers follow  ? Evidently  not  the  drunkards,  the  men  who 
get  drunk  every  time  they  get  the  means ; for  all  classes 
look  upon  them  as  disgusting.  Nor  is  it  the  middle^ 
class,  who  drink  habitually,  and  get  drunk  occasion- 
ally ; for  in  every  family  and  social  circle  you  will  hear 
them  spoken  of  thus  : ‘ Mr.  A.  has  a good  bank  account 
now,  but  if  he  goes  on  this  way  five  years,  it  won’t  be 
so.  Mr.  B.’s  credit  is  good  to-day,  but  he  will  be  a pau- 
per in  ten  years  if  he  don’t  let  liquor  alone.’  No ; no 
young  man  feels  called  on  to  imitate  them.  No;  it  is 
the  nice,  elegant  fellows,  who  turn  up  delicate  cut  glasses, 
and  sip  the  finest  foreign  wines ; or  the  sturdy,  honest 
old  gentlemen,  who  take  only  pure  Bourbon  r and  the 
families  that  keep  a little  cordial  for  sociability,  or  a 
bottle  of  brandy  in  the  house  ‘ for  fear  some  one  should 
be  taken  suddenly  sick  in  the  night.’  These  are  the 
men  who  set  the  fashion,  whose,  every  word  and  motion 
was  imitated.  For  it  is  but  a few  men  who  set  the  style 
for  a place ; it  is  but  a small  number  of  women  who  de- 
termine the  fashion.  And  there  are  women,  and  in  the 
best  society,  — to  our  shame  be  it  said, — ^.who  serve  as 
agents  to  recruit  the  devil’s  army  of  drunkards. 

“Mrs.  Colonel  Smith  smiles  sweetly  the  Istdaj'of  Jan- 
uary, as  she  saj^s  to  the  innocent  young  man  who  calls, 

‘ Take  a glass  of  wine  with  me  before  you  go.’  And 
to  that  jmung  man  she  is  a very  goddess,  moving  before 
him  in  trailing,  clouds  of  beauty.  The  woman  who^ 
would  thus  let  herself  down  to  be  an  enlisting  officer  for 
the  devil’s  army  of  drunkards  should  be  tabooed,  inex- 
orably shut  out  from  all  respectable  society  forever.'’ 
[Prolonged  applause.]  A series  of  interesting  sketches 
followed,  showing  that  the  speaker  could  drop  occasion- 
ally from  the  severe  to  the  lively  and  amusing ; but 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY.  405 

througli  them  all  ran  one  general  mol’al : There  is  no 
safety  but  in  total  abstinence ; and  the  moderate  drink- 
ers set  the  example  which  makes  drunkards. 

• He  then  address^  himself  to  the  question,  “What, 
shall  be  done  ? ” Nothing  had  ever  raised  communities 
to  such  a height  of  moral  sublimity  as  this  women’s  tem- 
perance movement  of  Ohio,  “ Three  hundred  times,”  he 
said,  “ have  I given  temperance  lectu:^es  in  which  I urged 
this  movement,  and  never  found  the  soil  fit  for  it  before, 
Now  that  it  has  come,  I almost  fear  to  touch  it,  lest  I 
hinder.  When  I saw  the  women  at  Morrow  praying  in 
front  of  that  saloon,  I felt  weak ; too  weak  to  add  any- 
thing to  the'  power  at  work ; and  I knew  then  why  , 
brother  Van  Pelt  had  surrendered.  He  must  have  been 
half  crocodile,  half  tiger,  and  all  devil,  to  have  withstood 
it.  Now,  friends,  the  hour  of  action  has  come.  I pro- 
pose this  plan : We  want  a chairman,  four  secretaries, 

■ and  ten  speeches  of  two  or  three  minutes  each  by  clergy- 
men and  leading  citizens.” 

By  unanimous  vote  of  the  audience.  Dr.  Lewis  him- 
self was  made  chairman,  and  Messrs.  Dodds,  Stern,  Col- 
onel Finley,  of  the  Xenia  Gazette,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 

. Maiiey  named  as  secretaries.  Short  and  pointed  speeches 
were  then  made  by  Rev.*  Mr.  Bedel,  of  the  Baptist 
church.  Rev.  Mr.  Ralston,  of  the  Presbyterian,  Rev.  J.  G. 
Carson,  of  the  United  Presbyterian,  Rev.  Mr.  Morehead, 

^ Mr,  Starr,  Mr.  Shaeffer,  Rev..  Mr.  Yockey,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Maiiey.  One  or  two  hesitated  sornewhat  before  em- 
barking in  the  Hillsboro’  method  of  suppressing  intem- 
perance, but  the  expression  of  the  orators  generally,  and 
the  tone  of  the  audience,  were  decidedly  in  favor  of  it. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  women  enlisted  on  the  spot,  and 
the  meeting  adjourned  in  a glow  of  enthusiasm  until 
morning. 

At  nine  A.  M.  on  the  following  day,  the  hall  was 


406 


iktejipeea:^;ce, 


again  crowded,  mostly  by  women,  who  showed  by  their 
countenances  that  the  enthusiasm  of  the  night  before 
had  not  been  slept  off.  The  work  of  organization  was 
again  taken  up,  and  the  list  of  Yolunteers  increased  to 
'nearly  four  hundred.  Dr.  Lewis  advised  a division  of 
forces  into  four  bands,  who  should  take  separate  districts 
of  the  city.  The  ladies  then  held  a private  meeting,  and 
adjorirned  until  afternoon. 

Notwithstanding  the  work  had  been  so  auspiciously 
begun,  the  party  of  temperance  missionaries  went  away 
with  manj^  misgivings  in  regard  to  Xenia,  there  seemed 
so  many  formidable  obstacles  to  be  overcome.  It  was  the 
largest  city  yet  attacked,  having  a population  of  nearly 
eight  thousand.  It  was  aristocratic,  wealthy ,*and  con- 
servative. There  w’as  a very  strong  element  in  the  re- 
ligious community  of  United  Presbyterians,  wdio  could 
not  conscientiousl}^  sing  a hymn,  or  allow  a woman  to 
speak  in  a church.  How^  could  ladies  from  these  churches 
work  harmoniously  with  INIethodists  and  others  ? Then 
there  w^ere  half  a hundred  weU-rcfbted  saloons  to  encoun- 
ter. These  and  other  difficulties  seemed  to  many  almost 
insurmountable.  How  they  were  sw^ept  away  lUve  chaff 
before  the  wind,  will  appear  further  along  in  this  chapter. 

Springfield  was  the  next  pipint  of  attack.  It  was  ap- 
proached wdth  some  fear  on  account  of  its  size  and  the 
strength  of  the  liquor  interest.  Up  to  this  time  the 
movement  had  not  been  attempted  in  anj-  place  contain- 
ing more  than  four  thousand  inhabitants,  and  it  was  de- 
clared by  many  that  if  it  strove  to  make  conquests  on  a 
larger  scale,  it  would  inevitabl}*  meet  with  defeat.  Peo- 
ple, however,  wffio  had  witnessed  the  marked  and  speedy 
•results  of  prayer  in  the  smaller  places,  were  sanguine 
that  the  same  method  wrould  prevail  in  the  cities,  if  fairly 
tried.  Springfield  contains  something  like  fifteen  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  being  about  double  the  size  of  Xenia. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT. 


407 


It  had  one  hundred  and  thirteen  saloons,  besides  whole- 
sale houses,  breweries,  and  doubtful  drug  stores.  As  in 
Xenia,  the  ladies  of  the  upper  classes  are  slightly  given 
to  aristocratic  notions,  while  the  liquor  sellers  were  so 
numerous  as  to  form  a society  of  their  own,  and  other- 
wise unite  for  joint  protection  and  resistance.  It  was, 
therefore,  not  a promising  field  for  laborers  for  temper- 
ance-according to  the  new  plan,  and  many  thought  it 
would  give  a searching  test  to  the  efficacy  of  the  moral 
method. 

The  subject  of  temperance  had  been  agitated  there 
some  time  before  Dio  Lewis  arrived.  Six  weeks  pre- 
vious the  movement  had  been  set  on  foot  mainly  by 
“Mother”  Stewart,  under  whose  maternal  supervision 
it  had  since  remained.  W eekly  meetings  had  been  held 
and  moderately  attended.  The  speeches  were  carefully 
elaborated,  and  the  essays  were  of  the  most  polished  or- 
der, and  all  had  a general  tendency  towards  teinperance ; 
but  somehow  the  cause  did  not  thrive.  A legal  cam- 
paign had  been  vigorously  pushed  by  Mother  Stewart. 
A vain  attempt  had  been  made  to  persuade  the  City 
Council  to  use  thmr  power,  under  a city  ordinance,  to 
abate  the  saloons  as  nuisances.  And  at  last,  just  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Dio  Lewis  party,  some  attempts  had 
been  made  with  the  praying  method.  But  the  nice 
ladies  held  aloof,  distrustful  of  such  strange  means : the 
doubting,  and  well-disposed,  shook  their  heads  and-  said,. 
“ It  was  of  no  use ; whiskey  had  got  too  strong  a hold,” 
while  the  saloon  keepers  smiled  a smile  of  good-natured 
contempt. 

Things  were  about  in  this  condition  when  Dio  Lewis 
and  Van  Pelt  came  on  the  scene.  The  Opera  House 
was  crowded  to  hear  the  far-famed  temperance  apostles.. 
On  the  stage  were  the  whole  party  of  itinerant  speakers 
and  journalists,  together  with  Mother  Stewart,  Clifton 
25 


408 


LNTEAIPEEANCB,  • 


Nichols,  editor  of  the  Kepublic,  who  acted  as  chairman, 
and  several  of  the  ministers  and  dignitaries  of  the  town. 
Van  Pelt  had  his  say  first,  and  improved  considerably 
on  his  Xenia  performance.  The  doctor  followed  in  an 
address  which  was,  to  some  extent,  the  same  as  already 
reported.  The  following,  however,  in  regard  to  adul- 
terated liquors,  excited  some  surprise  and  considerable 
applause  among  his  hearers : — 

“ He  did  not  sympathize  with  the  wish  for  pure 
liquors ; on  the  contraiy,  he  considered  the  poison-com- 
pounder the  friend  of  temperance.  He  did  not  know 
of  any  drug  so  deadly  that  it  would  not  improve  whiskey. 
He  would  bid  the  mixers  God  speed,  if  it  be  lawful  to 
use  the  name  of  God  in  such  a connection.  There  is  no 
nonsense  so  pervading  and  injurious  as  this  talk  about 
unadulterated  liquors.  Men  say,  ‘ O,  if  we  only  had  the 
pure  liquors  that  our  grandfathers  had,  we  would  live 
on  as  they  did ; it  is  this  poison  stuff  that  kills  us  off.’ 
It  is  aU  nonsense.  The  reason  liquor  hurts  us  worse 
than  our  grandfathers  is  the  difference  in  other  physical 
conditions.  They  worked  hard  in  the  open  ah,  hyed  on 
coarse  food,  and  though  they  drank  often,  did  live  out 
three  fourths  of  their  days.  The  men.  who  five  in  the 
open  air  now,  who  start  with  a good  constitution  and 
unusual  physical  advantages,  can  live  as  long.  Be  not 
deceived ! Alcohol  is  poison  — it  is  poison  — it  is  poison. 
The  more  deadly  it  can  be  made,  the  better.  If  a man 
has  become  an  habitual  drinker,  the  sooner  he  dies,  the 
less  harm  he  does.  Is  it  not  better  for  him  to  go  in  a 
year  or  two,  than  to  go  on,  a curse  to  himself  and  the 
■world,  for  twenty  ? If  the  whiskey  could  be  so  mixed 
that  it  would  kill  a man  in  three  days,  it  would  be  a 
glorious  tlfing  for  temperance.” 

The  speech  was  concluded  in  a blaze  of  enthusiasm, 
and  the  business  meeting  began.  It  was  conducted 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


40.9 


in  the  same  manner  as  the  one  at  Xenia.  Four  secre- 
taries were  named  by  the  audience  — C.  H.  Shaetfer, 
O.  G.  Hoffman,  T.  J.  Finch,  and  O.  D.  Hawk.  These 
were  to  name  one  hundred  ladies  from  the  audience,  who 
would  take  an  active  part  in  the  crusade.  While  this 
work  was  going  on.  Mother  Stewart  was  called  to  the 
front.  She  said, — 

“ God  seems  to  be  giving  us  the  desire  of  our  hearts, 
but  we  have  a very  peculiar  warfare  here.  I cannot 
describe  it.  We.  never  did  anything  until  we  started  to 
work  at  the ‘saloons.  It  seemed  to  me  that  we  were 
only  beating  the  air.  Four  months  have  passed  since 
that  poor  woman  came  to  me  for  help  for  herself  and 
children  against  the  rum  sellers  that  were  killing  her  hus- 
band. I told  her  to-day  to  come  here  to-night,  and  see 
if  this  meeting  gave  her  hope ; and  she  is  in  the  audience. 
At  last  the  people  are  interested ; some  actual  drunk- 
ards, and  young  men,  drinkers,  but  not  yet  drunkards, 
have  taken  my  hand,  and  said  to  me,  ‘ Go  on.  Mother 
Stewart ; we  do  hope  you  will  succeed.’  Sometimes  I 
have  felt  so  discouraged  I almost  wished  that  God  would 
lay  me  on  a bed  of  sickness,  for  I might  be  an  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  reform.  Still  we  worked  on.  I felt,  when 
that  poor  woman  came  to  me,  that  our. great  reliance 
must  be  in  prayer.  The  great  question  was.  Could  we 
succeed  in  that  way  in  this  city  ? . At  last  we  went  forth, 
and  then  a host  of  friends  seemed  to  spring  out  of  the 
ground.  The  burden  of  this  thing  has  been  on  my  mind 
till  I have  felt  that  I could  not  live  unless  we  went  for- 
ward. We  could  not  trust  to  other  causes.  The  poli- 
ticiEtns  admit  that  they  are  powerless.  They  are  so  en- 
tangled that  they  cannot  act. 

“ On  Monday  two  or  three  went  out  and  prayed. 
Good  women  came  and  prayed  with  us ; and  at  last, 
yesterday,  we  went  to  the  saloons,  twenty  or  thirty  of 


410 


LNTEMPEEAITCE, 


US,  and  to-day  more  came  — yes,  seventy  or  eighty  ; and 
you  all  know  the  result.  Many  gentlemen  have  said  to 
me,  ‘ Those  places  must  he  closed  ; ’ but  I felt  almost  in 
^ despair  when  I received  a telegram  from  Dr.  Lewis.  As 
our  band  increased,  there  was  a great  crowd  of  men  and 
boys,  but  they  were  very  polite  and  respectful.  They 
only  seemed  anxious  to  see  and  hear.  To-day  we  visited 
the  Lagonda  House  saloon ; the  proprietor  treated  us 
very  kindly,  but  locked  the  outside  door  to  keep  the 
crowd  out.  He  gave  us  the  billiard  rooms,  and  we  had  a 
very  precious  season  there.  At  the  next ‘place  I tried 
to  talk,  a crowd  collected.  The  man  came  out  and  said, 
‘ Get  away ; get  away,  every  one  of  you  ; I don’t  want 
any  trespassers ; you  shan’t  stand  on  my  steps.’  ’ But  I 
was  never  more  composed.  When  I started  down  from 
the  porch  a hundred  voices  said,  ‘ Stay  where  you  are.’ 
‘ Go  on.  Mother  Stewart,  go  on.’  Then  a policeman 
took  the  man  in,  and  when  we  were  ready  to  leave,  he 
came  out  in  good  humor,  and  bid  us  good  day.” 

Ten  minute  speeches  being  in  order,  John  C.  IMiller, 
city  solicitor.  General  Kiefer,  Rev.  INIr.  Bennett,  Rev.  Mr. 
Spring,  L.  H.  Olds,  and  others  responded  to  calls ; and, 
though  some  of  them  handled  “ this  particular  plan  ” a 
little  gingerly,  yet  all  were  in  favor  of  some  decided 
movement  on  the  subject  at  once.  The  enthusiasm  on 
the  subject  of  organization  was  not  what  it  was  at  Xenia, 
and  as  soon  as  the  meeting  came  to  real  business,  the 
people  seemed  in  a dreadful  hurry  to  go  home,- and  kept 
constantly  leaving  the  hall. 

Next  morning,  at  nine  o’clock,  the  Central  Methodist 
church  presented  a more  encouraging  picture.  It  was 
nearly  filled  with  ladies,  who,  by  their  coming,  indicated 
that  they  were  ready  to  take  hold  of  the  work.  An 
executive  and  advisory  committee  were  appointed  to 
subdivide- forces,  arrange  plans,  and  take  entire  control 


ITS  ASPECT  AJID  ITS  REMEDY. 


411 


of  the  movement.  The  names  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
women,  ready  for  the  work,  were  reported.  Dio  Lewis 
and  Van  Pelt  were  present.  The  former  acted  as  chief 
organizer,  and  the  latter  gave  an  account  of  his  expe- 
rience as  a saloon  keeper.  Two  or  three  men,  belonging 
to  good  families  in  the  city,  but  who  had  been  almost 
ruined  by  intemperance,  told  the  ladies  that  on  the 
success  of  the  movement  depended  their  own  salvation 
from  rum. 

The  temperance  party  left  for  Lebanon  in  the  after- 
noon, feehng  that  the  work  had  been  well  organized 
and  well  begun  in  Springfield,  and  expecting  to  hear, 
very  soon,  of  grand  achievements  in  the  cause.  But 
such  is  the  weakness  of  human  judgment.  In  Xenia, 
from  which  little  was  expected,  a week  sufficed  to  revo- 
lutionize the  town.  In  Springfield,  which  gave  such 
fair  promise,  the  movement  dragged  along  for  months 
with  no  great  results. 

There  was  a vague  suspicion  among  the  members  of 
the  temperance  band  that  Lebanon  was  small  game  for 
half  a dozen  able-bodied  men.  From  the  account  already 
given,  it  will  be  remembered  that  there  was  but  a single 
saloon  in  town  that  had  survived  the  terrors  of  the  law, 
and  the  proprietor  of  that  was  selling  in  strict  conformity 
with  the  law.  But  Dio  Lewis  had  engaged  himself  to 
lecture  there,  and  was  determined  to  improve  what 
opportunities  for  usefulness  still  remained.  The  keen 
scent  of  the  reformer  discovered  three  saloons  and  a dis- 
tillery in  the  little  squad  of  houses  that  make  up  Deer- 
field— the  railroad  station  of  Lebanon.  It  struck  him 
that  the  ladies  of  the  latter  place,  having  no  foe  to  over- 
come in  their  own  midst,  might  do  a little  expellent 
missionary  work  in  their  degenerate  suburb. 

There  was  a large  and  fine-looking  audience  assembled 
in  the  evening  to  hear  the  doctor.  Nate  Woods,  the 


412 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


only  remaining  saloonist,  himself  bought  five  dollars’ 
worth  of  tickets  for  the  lecture,  and  distributed  them 
among  his  friends.  Van  Pelt  orated  in  the  customary 
style  ; Dr.  Lewis  was  very  entertaining  and  impressive  ; 
the  usual  five  minute  speeches  were  extracted  from 
prominent  men  and  ministers  present,  and  the  work  of 
organization  was  commenced.  While  many  were  doubt- 
ing whether  so  many  ladies  were  needed  to  suppress  the 
small  whiskey  shop  that  was  left,  and  the  two  suspicious 
drug  stores.  Dr.  Lewis  sprang  upon  the  audience  the 
question  of  their  interesting  suburb  — Deerfield.  It  was 
a surprise.  The  hsteners  pictured  to  themselves  twenty 
wagon  loads  of  Lebanon  women  descending  from  the 
steep  hill  upon  the  forsaken  little  town  and  its  distillery. 
In  prospect  it  seemed  hke  the  descent  of  Hannibal  from 
the  Alps  upon  the  fair  fields  of  Italy. 

A meeting  was  held  in  the  Congregational  church 
next  morning.  Dr.  Lewis  acted  as  manager,  and  the 
usual  company  of  women  was  enlisted  for  service.  A 
disposition  was  manifested  to  supplement  the  work  of 
the  law  by  a httle  influence  of  the  gospel,  and  then, 
when  the  last  remnant  of  whiskey  was  rooted  out  of 
Lebanon,  to  push  the  victorious  car  over  the  hiUs  to 
Deerfield,  and  redeem  that  place  from  its  load  of  wick- 
edness and  misery. 

Nate  Woods  was  sought  out  by  a reporter,  and  unbo- 
somed himself  for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  He  regarded 
the  situation  as  serious,  and  yet  hopeful.  He  seemed 
to  be  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  the  temperance 
cause  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Burrows  were  identical,  and 
gave  a long  history  of  the  persecutions  he  had  suffered 
at  the  hands  of  that  gentleman.  When  asked  what  he 
would  do  when  the  women  came,  he  said  he  woidd  shut 
up  his  shop  and  go  home  till  they  got  through.  He  had 
money  enough,  and  could  stick  it  out  as  long  as  they 
could. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIMEDY. 


413 


“ But  suppose  they  swoop  down  every  time  you 
open  up  ? ” 

“ O,”  said  he,  “ they  won’t  do  that.  They’ll  get  tired 
of  this  by  and  by,  and  go  home  and  mind  their  own 
business.  It  can’t  last.” 

The  next  engagement  of  Dio  Lewis  was  at  Marysville  ; 
bnt  after  an  exasperating  drag  of  twenty  miles  through 
the  deep  mud,  the  train  was  missed  by  a few  minutes, 
and  the  people  of  Marysville  had  to  start  the  temperance 
movement  unaided  and  alone.  What  was  their  loss, 
however,  proved  to  be  Franklin’s  eternal  gain.  That 
place  had  been  among  the  first  to  enter  upon  the  crusade 
against  saloons.  Six  had  yielded,  after  an  ineffectual  re- 
sistance, and  the  women  were  engaged  upon  the  last  and 
worst.  It  was  kept  by  one  Munger,  who  has  achieved, 
in  that  locality,  the  reputation  of  a Van  Pelt  — unre- 
generated. 'While  the  ladies  were  ’ praying  about  this 
place,  the  temperance  party  drew  near  and  listened.  A 
voice — that  of  a young  woman,  almost  a girl — was  raised 
in  prayer.  It  was  so  sweet  and  pure  a prayer. that  a 
reporter  telegraphed  it  entire  to  the  New  York  Tribune  ; 
*so  that  thousands  of  readers  in  the  east  next  morning 
saw  in  their  paper  the  tender,  pleading  words  of  a “ cru- 
sader” before  an  Ohio  saloon. 

On  the  l4th  and  15th  of  February  Dr.  Lewis  and  Van 
Pelt  were  in  Mt.  Vernon,  a manufacturing  town  of  con- 
siderable size,  n-orth-east  of  Columbus.  There  were 
twenty-eight  saloons  there,  and  the  custom  of  drinking 
had  such  a strong  hold  upon  the  masses  that  many,  even 
of  the  good  temperance  people,  thought  it  folly  to  waste 
any  prayers  for  the  regeneration  of  Mt.  Vernon.  It  was 
past  cure.  But  others  had  faith,  and  among  them  were 
ladies  belonging  to  the  very  best  society  of  the  place. 
A large  band  organized  and  entered  upon  the  work, 
with  what  remarkable  success  will  be  seen  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter. 


414 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


On  the  night  of  the  16th  Dio  Lewis  was  booked  for 
Columbus,  where  a great  mass  meeting  was  to  he  held 
with  a view  to  inaugurating  the  work  there.  All  eyes 
were  turned  towards  Columbus  for  the  answer  to  the 
question,  “ Can  this  movement  succeed  in  large  cities?  ” 
It  was  a tremendous  meeting  in  point  of  size,  but  the 
cold,  critical  lookers-on  seemed  to  outnumber  and  par- 
alyze the  zealous  advocates  of  the  cause.  As  the  seat 
of  the  state  government,  the  city  was  overrun  with 
politicians,  who  from  the  first  looked  with  disfavor  upon 
the  woman’s  movement.  The  average  politician,  with- 
out the  facilities  of  the  dram  shops,  would  find  politics  a 
dreary  and  unprofitable  profession.  These  and  certain 
other  elements  united  to  smother  what  little  enthusiasm 
the  ladies,  in  their  private  prayer  meetings,  had  worked 
up.  The  verdict  of  the  press  was  “ failure  ; ” and  the 
majoj'ity  of  people,  who  depend  on  their  newspaper  for 
their  opinions,  straightway  concluded  that  it  was  all  up 
with  the  cities.  They  were  mistaken,  as  the  record  of  a 
succeeding  chapter  will  show.  With  the  Columbus  ladies 
it  was  only  hope  deferred.  The  cold-blooded  politicians, 
and  some  other  disturbing  elements,  had  checked,  but  by* 
no  means  discouraged  them.  A great  State  Temperance 
Convention  was  appointed  for  the  following  Tuesday, 
and  the  meeting  adjourned,  after  taking  up  a collection 
to  cover  expenses.  One  hundred  dollars  v^re  called  for, 
and  the  hats  returned  laden  with  nickels  and  copj^ers  to 
the  extent  of  eighteen  or  twenty  dollars.-  The  audience 
had  sacrificed  something  over  half  a cent  apiece  ! 

From  Columbus  the  doctor  went  to  Washington  Court 
House,  where  a grand  thankgiving  jubilee  had  been  ar- 
ranged to  celebrate  the  final  closing  out  of  rvhiskey  from 
the  place.  He  was  met  at  the  depot  bj'  a brass  band 
and  half  the  people  of  the  town.  The  reception  took 
place  in  Music  Hall,  and  was  a memorable  affair-  in  the 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


415 


history  of  the  little  city.  Mrs.  M.  G.  Carpenter,  wife  of 
the  Presbyterian  minister,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
leaders  in  the  movement,  extended  a welcome  to  Dr. 
Lewis  in  the  following  well-chosen  words  : — 

“ Dr.  Lewis : In  the  name  of  the  women  of  Wash- 
ington I welcome  you.  Eight  weeks  ago,  when  you  first 
came  among  us,  you  found  us  a people  of  willing  hearts 
and  generous  impulses,  fully  alive  to  the  evils  of  intem- 
perance, but  needing  the  magnetism  of  a master  mind  to 
rouse  -us  into  a determined  resistance  to  its  ravages. 
Yours  was  that  mind.  Your  hand  pointed  out  the  way. 
You  vitalized  our  latent  activities ; you  roused  us  all,  men 
and  women  together,  and  we  have  gone  forth  to  the  battle 
side  by  side,  as  God  intended  we  should ; ourselves  per- 
fect weakness,  but  God  mighty  in  strength.  He  has 
given  the  success  — not  yet  complete,  ’tis  true,  but  our 
faith  is  still  unshaken.  He  sent  you  here  ; He  put  the 
thought  into  your  head ; He  prepared  our  hearts  to  re- 
ceive it ; He  has  directed  our  steps.  And  now  He  has 
'brought  you  among  us  again  to  gladden  you  with  the 
fruition  of  hope  long  deferred  — to  see  the  seed,  sown 
long  ago  by  your  mother,  springing  up,  budding,  and 
bearing  fruit.  Dr.  Lewis,  in  behalf  of  this  whole  peo- 
ple, I again  welcome  you  to  the  hearts  and  homes  of 
Washington.” 

Dr.  Lewis  replied : — ' 

“Madam  and  Friends:  I cannot  make  a speech  on 
this  occasion.  I may,  perhaps,  compare  myself  to  an  In- 
dian on  a visit  to  the  city  of  Washington  — from  the 
frontier  to  the  place  where  the  battle  has  long  been 
fought  and  won.  I have  always  been  on  the  frontier, 
always  engaged  in  the  battle  of  reform ; and  now,  to 
find  any  thing  really  done,  to  find  a town  positively  free 
from  the  curse  of  liquor  selling,  it  seems  that  there  is 
nothing  for  me  to  do.  I feel  as  one  without  his  working 
harness.  But  I will  say  this:  None  bat  God  can  ever 
know  how  much  I owe  to  this  town,  nor  how  fortunate 
it  was  for  me  and  for  many  that  I came  here.  I will  not 


416 


rSTElNIPEEANCE, 


say  that  this  is  the  only  community  in  which  the  work 
could  he  begun.  The  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  dis- 
played in  other  places, . the  moral  force  developed  in 
Southern  Ohio,  woidd  make  such  a remark  invidious. 
Often  have  I tried  to  start  this  movement — once  in  par- 
ticular, in  one  of  the  most  moral  towns  in  New  England. 
Two  United  States  senators  came  upon  the  platform  to 
give  the  movement  them  sanction.  We  had  as  fine  an 
audience  as  could  be  assembled,  and  I said  to  myself, 
‘ At  last  we  are  going  to  succeed.’  But  it  was  a dead 
failure.  I know  not  why.  All  the  elements  of  success 
seemed  to  be  there ; but  some  invisible  force  was  lack- 
ing. There  is  an  invisible  force  at  work  in  this  movement. 
At  last  I came  to  you,  and  you  delighted  me  by  your 
work.  You  came  out  to  meet  me  with  music  and  words 
of  welcome.  But  I come  to  thank  you,  to  take  you  by 
the  hands,  to  look  into  jmur  eyes,  and  tell  you  how  much 
I owe  to  you  for  being  the  first  to  cheer  me  with  suc- 
cess. I am  indebted  to,  you  for  bringing  out  this  plan. 
I am  indebted  to  you  a thousand  times  more  than  you 
are  to  me.  But  the  hour  of  victory  ledves  me  with  httle 
to  say.  I have  never  been  able  to  visit  the  battle-fields 
after  victory  — have  always  gone  on  to  new  fields.  I can 
only  close  by  tendering  yon  my  earnest  thanks.” 

Further  festivities  of  a mild  nature  followed,  after 
which  Dr.  Lewis  took  leave  of  the  town  that  won  the 
first  complete  victory  under  his  system,  and  from  there 
went  to  Springfield,  Dayton,  and  Cincinnati,  at  which 
latter  city  he  delivered  a regular  lyceilm  lecture.  Sun- 
day was  spent  in  advising  and  encouraging  the  labor- 
ers at  Hillsboro’ ; and  on  Monday  the  original  party.  Van 
Pelt  excepted,  found  itself  reunited  and  headed  for  Del- 
aware, a quiet  little  city  in  Central  Ohio,  the  seat  of 
the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  and  the  home  of  Apollo 
and  the  Muses. 

On  Monday  the  women  of  Delaware  had  no  thought 
of  inaugurating  the  praying  movement ; twenty-four 
hours  later  they  were  thoroughly  organized,  and  had  en- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


417 


tered  upon  the  work  in  a glow  of  enthusiasm.  Dr.  Lewis 
was  invited  to  lecture,  not  by  the  citizens,  but  by  one 
or  two  students  of  the  Chi  Plii  fraternity,  who  were  also 
perfectly  guiltless  of  any  intention  of  improving  the 
morals  of  the  town.  A large  audience  assembled  in  the 
Opera  House  to  hear  the  lecture,  and  almost  before  they 
knew  it,  they  were  fairly  imbued  with  the  new  idea. 
They  came  for  an  evening’s  entertainment,  and  Avent 
awa}^  pledged  “crusaders.”  Next  day  a large  meeting 
was  held  at  the  Williams  Street  M.  E.  church,  where  a 
permanent  and  effective  organization  was  formed.  Mrs. 
A.  S.  Clason  was  made  President,  and  Mrs.  Bishop 
Thompson  Secretary.  The  most  cultivated  and  influ- 
ential ladies  came  promptly  forward,  and  went  to  work 
with  an  intelligence  of  purpose  and  strength  of  determi- 
nation tliat  spoke  the  inevitable  doom  of  the  thirty-three 
saloons  that  flourished  in  their  midst. 

The  temperance  apostles  reached  Columbus  next  day 
just  in  time  for  the  great  convention,  to  which  all  work- 
ers in  the  cause  had  been  invited.  The  proceedings  of 
this  and  other  conventions,  during  the  progress  of  the 
movement,  will  be  found  in  a succeeding  chapter. 

We  have  left  the  movement  fairly  inaugurated  at  a 
number  of  interesting  points,  some  full  of  promise,  and 
others  of  discouragement.  It  may  be  well  to  go  back, 
and,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  review  the  prog- 
ress of  the  work. 

Xenia  was  the  flrst  place  where  Dio  Lewis  tried  his 
skill  as  an  organizer.  The  elements  of  opposition  were 
so  plentiful  that  a stranger,  on  the  morning  Dio  Lewis 
left,  would  have  said  there  was  not  a ghost  of  a chance 
of  success.  One  week  later  the  writer  returned,  and 
spent  three  days  in  the  place.  The  very  atmosphere 
seemed  to  be  changed.  The  excitement  was  as  intense 
as  at  any  time  during  the  war.  In  business,  in  society. 


'418 


ESTTEMPERAi^CE,  . 


on  the  streets,  everywhere,  temperance  was  the  all-pre- 
vailing topic  of  conversation.  Hundreds  of  women, 
divided  into  several  hands,  were  praying  daily  before 
the  saloons.  The  morning  meetings  in  the  churches 
were  crowded  with  men  and  women,  and  the  most  in- 
tense interest  was  manifested  in  every  part  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. While  these  meetings  were  in  progress,  the 
stores  were  closed,  and  business  generally  suspended. 

It  was  remarkable,  most  of  all,  to  notice  how  the  bar- 
riers of  society  and  denominationalism  were  broken  down. 
All  churches  and  all  classes  of  society  were  united  in  the ' 
movement.  People  who,  a week  before,  would  have 
counted  it  a sin  to  sing  out  of  any  but  Rouse’s  version, 
now  joined  lustily  in  the  old  jMethodist  hymns.  One 
prominent  member  of  the  U.  P.  church  remarked  that 
she  “ had  got  all  over  her  old  notions  about  singing 
psalms,  and  women  speaking  in  churches.  If  anybody 
wanted  to,  discipline  her,  they  might ; she  would  speak 
or  pray  when  she  felt  like  it,  and  sing  whatever  was 
started.”  In  society  it  was  the  same  way.  Every  lady 
in  town,  except  one,  belonging  to  what  is  known  as  “ the 
first  circles,”  was  active  in  the  movement,  and  on  the 
streets  daily.  That  one  was  sick,  and  could  not.  The 
leaders,  among  whom  might  be  mentioned  i\Irs.  Monroe, 
Mrs.  Finley,  Mrs.  Lowe,  and  others,  seemed,  from  their 
good  sense,  high  standing,  and  zealous  devotion,  admi- 
rably adapted  to  the  great  work  before  them. 

There  was  one  saloon,  known  as  the  “ Shades  of  Death,” 
which,  in  the  early  stages  of  the  movement,  was  the 
centre  of  attack.  Notwithstanding  its  notoriousl}-  bad 
character,  its  proprietor  was  a young  man,  named  Phillips, 
who  had  been  well  brought  up,  and  who  seemed  to  have 
a few  traces  oT  self-respect  remaining.  Day  after  day 
the  ladies  had  patiently  prajmd  and  pleaded  with  the 
man,  but  apparently  to  no  purpose.  Whenever  they 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


419 


attempted  to  enter,  lie  would  thrust  them  out,  good- 
naturedly,  sometimes,  but  always  determinedly.  But 
one  afternoon  the  church  bells  set  up  a deafening  clamor. 
People  rushed  about  the  streets  in  great  excitement, 
spreading  the  news  that  the  “ Shades  of  Death”  had 
sui’rendered.  Cheer  after  cheer  rose  upon  the  air  from 
the  vicinity  of  the  saloon.  Hastening  to  the  spot  with 
the  crowds  of  people  that  were  flocking  in  from  all  direc- 
tions, the  writer  witnessed  a remarkable  scene.  There 
had  been  an  unconditional  surrender  on  the  part  of  the 
young  saloonist,  and  a genuine  “ pouring  out  ” of  his 
liquors.  The  doxology  had  just  been  sung  by  the  crowd, 
as  though  they  intended  it  to  be  heard  a mile,  and  special 
emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  last  word  of  the  flrst  line. 
The  ladies,  with  tearful  eyes  but  stout  hands,  had  rolled 
out  the  barrels.  One  of  them  tugged  away  at  a faucet 
for  dear  life,  and  when  it  would  not  come,  she  seized  a 
stone,  and  went  at  it  with  an  energy  that  soon  sent  the 
beverage  reeking  through  the  gutter.  The  mingled 
fumes  of  whiskey  and  beer  fllled  the  air,  and  people  fell 
on  each  other’s  necks  and  wept.  It  was  unanimously 
voted  on  the  spot  to  encourage  Phillips  in  any  legitimate 
business  he  might  undertake ; and  now  a well-patron- 
ized meat  market  takes  the  place  of  the  old  trafSc  in 
whiskey.  The  same  night  two  other  saloons  surren- 
dered ; next  day,  two  or  three  more  ; and  so  on,  day  after 
day,  until  the  whole  forty  were  reduced  to  half  a dozen, 
which  still  hold  out,  and  will  have  to  be  brought  to 
terlns  by  law. 

At  Springfield  the  women  continued  the  campaign  of 
prayer ; but  somehow  the  cause  did  not  seem  to  prosper. 
At  Lebanon  Nate  Woods  resisted  for  a while,  but  at 
length  shut  up  his  saloon,  and  left  town  to  “ wait  till  the 
storm  should  blow  over.”  At  Delaware  the  work  was 
carried  on  vigorously.  Part  of  the  saloons  yielded  to 


420 


INTKMPEKAi^CE, 


persuasion,  and  the  remainder  were  closed  by  the  en- 
forcement of  the  city  ordinance. 

Mt.  Vernon  was  revolutionized  almost  as  speedily  as 
Xenia.  It  is  a city  of  about  the  same  size,  and  much 
the  same  characteristics.  The  women  enlisted  in  large 
numbers,  and  soon  became  a power  that  nothing  could 
resist.  Saloon  after  saloon  melted  away  before  them. 
Ten  days  sufficed  to  reduce  the  number  from  twenty- 
eight  to  a dozen ; and  it  was  not  long  before  all,  except 
a few  doggeries  of  the  lowest  character,  were  shut  up. 
The  leading  saloon  keeper,  who  was  among  the  first  to 
surrender,  was  one  McFealey,  known  to  con-sdvial  spirits 
throughout  all  that  section  of  country.  His  place  was  a 
favorite  resort  for  Kenyon  College  boys,  who  came  down 
from  Gambler  to  shake  off  the  cares  of  learning  and 
drown  them  in  the  flowing  bowl.  A few  days  after  he 
had  run  up  the  white  flag,  a couple  of  correspondents 
walked  in  to  interview  him.  They  were  met  with  a 
cordial  shake,  and,  — 

“ Have  a glass  of  ginger  ale,  or  lemonade,  gentlemen  ? 
We  don’t  keep  anything  stronger  now.” 

Over  this  mild  refresirment,  he  explained  how  he  con- 
ducted his  business  since  whiskey  was  thrown  overboard, 
and  what  he  thought  of  the  temperance  movement. 

“ I don’t  know  what  it  is  to  be  converted,”  said  he, 
“ but  from  what  I have  heard  people  say,  I think  I feel 
something  like  that.  I never  was  so  hap^ry  in  my  life 
as  since  I quit  selling  whiskey.  Before,  I used  to  cross 
the  street,  when  I saw  a.  lad}^  coming  whom  I happened 
to  know,  to  save  her  the  embarrassment  of  recognizing 
a saloon  keeper  publicly.  Now  all  that  feeling  is  gone, 
and  I feel  that  I am  as  good  as  anybody.” 

He  was  running  a restaurant  and  billiard  room  on  the 
temperance  plan,  and  so  great  had  been  the  increase  of 


SALOON  KEEPER  SURRENDERS,  AND  SIGNS  THE  PLEDGE. 


MU/i 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSTD  ITS  EEISIEDY. 


423 


his  respectable  patrons,  that  he  was  doing  a better  busi- 
ness than  he  had  ever  done  before. 

And  so  the  work  was  going  on  in  scores  of  towns,  of 
which  there  is  hardly  space  here  to  mention  the  names. 
At  the  time  Dio  Lewis  returned  to  the  east,  the  tele- 
graph and  mails  were  bringing  to  the  daily  papers  re- 
ports of  progress  from  nearly  every  part  of  the  state. 
Besides  the  hundreds  of  saloons  closed,  and  thousands 
of  individuals  pledged  to  total  abstinence,  there  were 
indirect  results  none  the  less  important.  A strong  pop- 
ular feehng  was  growing  up  against  drinking  in  every 
form,  and  against  the  men  who  enrich  themselves  by  the 
misery  and  degradation  of  their  fellow-creatures.  Indi- 
viduals were  being  saved  from  habits  of  self-destruction ; 
and  perhaps  more  important  than  any  of  these,  the  minds 
of  the  young  were  moulded  into  a love  for  the  principles 
of  temperance. 


424  . 


INTEIMPEEANCE, 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE  MOVEMENT  SPREABS  TO  INDIANA. — SHELBYVILLE  THE  FIRST  POINT 
ASSAILED. — A JUVENILE  SPREE  THE  IBIMEDIATE  CAUSE.  — THE  HOME 
OF  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  BAXTER  LAV’. — NOBLE  WORK  OF  THE  QUA- 
KER LADIES  OF  RICHMOND.  — SUDDEN  UPRISING  IN  FORT  WAYNE-  — 
HOW  THE  INDIANAPOLIS  WOMEN  DIRECTED  THEIR  ENERGIES.  — PRATER 
AND  THE  BAXTER  LAW  JOIN  HANDS. 

The  work  so  auspiciously  begun  in  Ohio  early  spread 
into  Indiana.  The  conditions  being  very  similar,  the 
plan  of  operations  was  but  slightly  modified.  The 
ladies  in  Southern  Indiana  took  to  the  praying  method 
with  much  the  same  readiness  and  determination  as 
their  sisters  across  the  line.  They  did  not  have  the 
personal  presence  and  counsel  of  the  commander-in- 
chief, in  consequence  of  which  operations  were  begun 
in  some  places  somewhat  irregularly.  The  very  impor- 
tant accessories  of  large  numbers,  of  social  prestige,  and 
of  a favorable  popular  sentiment,  which  were  so  marked 
in  some  of  the  Ohio  cities,  seemed  wanting,  to  some 
extent,  in  Indiana.  The  pioneers  in  the  movement,  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  state,  were  very  largely  Quaker 
ladies,  who  waited  not  for  organization,  or  any  pro- 
nounced backing  on  - the  part  of  the  general  public. 
They  had  faith  to  believe  that’  God  would  send  Them 
numbers  and  strength  as  the  work  progressed. 

The  campaign  in  Indiana  was  inaugurated  at  Shelby- 
ville  on  the  28th  of  January.  The  immediate  cause  of 
the  uprising  of  the  women  was  a drunken  spree  of  a 
couple  of  youths  between  seventeen  and  eighteen  j^ears 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


425 


old,  wlio  belonged  to  the  most  pious  and  respectable 
families  of  the  town.  One  of  them  purchased  liquor  on 
the  plea  that  it  was  for  family  use,  and,  together  with  a 
comrade  who  was  not  so  new  to  the  business,  they 
launched  out  upon  a-  bacchanalian  revelry  that  would 
have  done  credit  to  old  and  accomplished  soakers. 
Their  pursuit  of  pleasure  led  them  to  a house  of  bad 
repute,  where  their  drunken  orgies  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  officers,  who  arrested  them.  Their  pious 
mothers  and  friends  were  horrified  at  the  excesses  of 
the  boys ; and  so  great  was  the  feeling  upon  the  subject, 
especially  among  the  women,  that  a ^‘mothers’  meeting” 
was  held  at  the  close  of  the  prayer  meeting  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  20th.  The  cause  of  the  trouble  was  traced 
directly  to  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and,  as  in  the 
similar  case  recounted  by  Dio  Lewis,  they  resolved  to 
devote  their  earnest  and  prayerful  efforts  to  the  sup- 
pression of  intemperance. 

The  next  morning  another  meeting  was  held.  Soon 
after,  a committee  of  ladies  waited  on  Mr.  Schrader, 
whose  permit  to  sell  liquor  had  just  expired,  and  asked 
him  not  to  renew  it.  He  replied  that  he  would  quit  if 
the  others  would  ; and  so  the  ladies  were  led  almost  in- 
evitably into  the  work  of  visiting  saloons.  But  the  sa- 
loon keepers  all  met  them  with  the  remark,  “ Go  to  the 
druggists.  They  are  the  ones  that  are  responsible  for 
the  most  drunkenness.”  Accordingly  the- women  went 
to  the  drug  stores,  where  tippling  of  a respectable  kind 
was  encouraged.  There  were  six  of  them,  and,  with 
one  exception,  they  positively  refused  to  sign.  It  was 
understood  that  the  traffic  in  liquors,  wholesale  and 
retail,  formed  the  most  profitable  part  of  their  business. 
Each  one  would  throw  whiskey  overboard  if.all  the  rest 
would ; but  that  was  a promise  which  they  knew  they 
were  perfectly  safe  in  making. 

26 


426 


ETTEMPEEANCE, 


On  the  26th  of  January,  over  a hundred  women  met 
at  the  Baptist  church,  and  organized  the  “ Woman’s 
Teinperance  Alliance,”  with  the  following  named  offi- 
cers : Mrs.  John  Elliott,  President ; Mrs. ' Harrison, 
Vice-President ; Mrs.  Hattie  Robbins,  Secretary ; and 
Mrs.  Mattie  S.  Thompson,  Assistant  Secretary.  An 
appeahto  the  public  was  drafted,  asking  for  assistance 
in  the  good  work  of  temperance  reform.  But  this 
method  Avas  not  deemed  sufficiently  speedy  and  certain, 
and  it  was  resolved  by  a large  majority  to  proceed  to  the 
saloons  in  a body.  George  Deprez  was  ffi-st  to  receive 
attention.  He  admitted  them  readily,  and  a prayer 
meeting  was  held.  When  talked  with  directly  upon  the 
subject,  Mr.  Deprez  responded  that  he  was  a member,  in 
good  standing,  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  hoped 
thereby  to  obtain  eternal  happiness.  Next  day  thqy 
proceeded  to  other  saloons ; but  the  proprietors  gener- 
ally met  them  at  the  door  with  the  remark  that  their 
house  was  kept  for  other  purposes  than  prayer,  and,  if 
the  ladies  wanted  room  for  spch  exercises,  they  could 
have  the  churches  and  the  highway. 

But  the  band  of  praying  Avomen  increased  in  size,  and 
grew  strong  in  faith  and  courage.  They  went  on  in  the 
crusade  against  saloons  from  day  to  day,  meeting  with 
varying  successes.  A number  of  saloon  keepers  were 
induced  to  quit  the  business ; men  were  led  back  from 
the  A'^ery  gutter  into  Avays  of  sobriety ; and  a feehng  was 
created  in  the  public  mind  which  will  render  the  en- 
forcement of  the  law  a more  certain  and  easy  process. 

The  following  incident  is  related  as  occurring  in  one 
of  the  saloons  at  Shelbyville : A man  went  in  to  get  a 
drink  of  whiskey.  While  standing  at  the  bar,  the  AA'ife 
of  the  liqiTor  seller  called  her  husband  to  come  to 
dinner. 

“ What  have  you  got  for  dinner  ? ” he  asked. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


427 


“ Roast  goose,”  she  replied,  naming  several  other  good 
dishes. 

“Have  you  any  apple-sauce ? ” he  inquired  with  in- 
terest, adding,  “ I like  apple-sauce  with  roast  goose.” 

“ No,  hut  I will  soon  have  some,”  was  the  answer. 

And  the  man  at  the  bar,  waiting  for  his  dram,  thought 
to  himself,  “What  has  my  family  for  dinner  to-day? 
This  man  has  roast  goose  and  apple-sauce,  and  my  fam- 
ily have  none.  I will  furnish  no  more  money  for  him  to 
buy  roast  goose  and  apple-sauce.” 

About  two  weeks  later,  Jeffersonville  was  seized  by 
the  same  epidemic.  Two  hundred  ladies  formed  an  or- 
ganization, and  began  the  usual  street  operations.  They 
were  followed  by  crowds  that  sometimes  became  so  noisy 
as  to  compel  them  to  suspend  their  efforts  for  a time. 
In  Muncie,  Kokomo,  and  many  smaller  places,  the 
movement  was  started  in  a similar  way. 

In  Richmond,  a staid  Quaker  city  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants,  the  work  was  quietly  inaugurated 
late  in  February.  A few  determined  Quaker  ladies  first 
started  the  street  movement,  but  they  rapidly  gained  in 
numbers  until  all  the  churches  were  represented  in  the 
ranks.  Richmond  is  the  home  of  William  Baxter,  au- 
thor of  the  Baxter  law,  and  is  therefore  u good  point 
from  which  to  view  the  effects  of  that  enactment.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  law  provides  that  no  man 
may  keep  a saloon  or  sell  intoxicating  liquors  until  he 
has  secured  the  signatures  of  a majority  of  the  voters  in 
his  ward  or  township  to  a petition  asking  for  such  saloon. 
He  is  required  to  furnish  bondsmen,  who  shall  be  liable 
for  any  violation  of  the  law  on  his  part,  and,  further- 
more, the  property  on  which  the  liquor  is  sold  is  liable, 
as  under  the  Adair  law  in  Ohio.  As  may  be  readily 
seen,  not  one  saloon  keeper  in  twenty  can  comply  with 
all  of  these  conditions  and  carry  on  a profitable  business. 


428 


INTEMPEEAiTCE, 


The  consequence  is,  that  in  that  city,  out  of  the  thirty- 
one  registered  saloons,  hut  a single  one  was  licensed 
under  the  Baxter  law,  the  husiness  of  the  other  thirty 
being  carried  on  in  direct  violation  ©f  it.  The  law  is 
ineffective  in  the  cities,  simply  because  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  secure  direct  evidence  against"  any  of  these 
places.  . Men  who  drink  will  not  swear  to  it,  and  thus 
dry  up  the  source  from  whidh  they  expect  to  get  more. 
And  if  by  any  means  a witness  is  secured,  he  is  bought 
off,  if  there  is  money  enough  in  the  treasury  of  the 
liquor  sellers’  association  to  do  it.  It  is  very  different, 
however,  in  the  country  districts.  There  hundreds  of 
saloons  were  closed  up  by  the  law,  and  will  remain  closed 
as  long  as  it  exists.  A majority  of  the  voters  in  country 
townships  is  generally  found  to  he  opposed  to  whiskey 
selling,  while,  from  their  detached  locations,  the  whiskey 
sellers  cannot  combine  to  override  the  law. 

At  the  present  writing,  all  the  druggists  are  pledged, 
and  about  two  thirds  of  the  thirty-one  saloons  mentioned 
have  either  succumbed  to  law,  or  to  the  prayers  of  the 
women.  Not  less  than  seven  of  these  yielded  to  the 
simple  influence  of  prayer,  and  some  of  them  are  now 
zealous  advocates  of  temperance.  . -The  finest  saloon  in 
Richmond  was  kept  by  one  McCoy.  It  was  called  “ The 
Continentar,”  the  word  being  displaj'ed  in  a manj'- 
colored  arch  over  the  door.  But  McCoy  surrendered  to 
the  'ladies,  and  now  a croae-bar,  underneath  the  arch, 
bears  the  word  “Market.”  Twenty  gentlemen  sub- 
scribed fifty  dollars  each,  and  loaned  him  that  amount 
to  set  him  iqD  in  business.  August  Woeste  poured  out 
his  liquors  unconditionally,  and  was  rewarded  with  the 
proeeeds  of  a public  supper  given  in  his  establishment. 

Thomas  Lichtenfels,  kowever,  surrendered  under  the 
most  interesting  and  dramatic  circumstances.  He  had 
always  prided  himself  on  selling  strictly  according  to 


ITS  ASPECT  A3!TD  ITS  REMEDY. 


429 


law,  had  a regular  license  under  the  Baxter  bill,  obtained 
without  fr^id,  and  never  sold  to  drunken  men  or  minors. 
As  the  lower  class  saloons  surrendered,  one  after  an- 
other, their  customers  centred  upon  him ; and,  though 
he  was  taking  in  money- twice  as  fast  as  ever  before,  he 
felt  a growing  disgust  at  the  character  of  his  patrons. 
At  length  the  ladies  began  to  visit  his  saloon,  and  remain 
some  time  each  visit.  One  afternoon  he  undertook  to 
shut  them  out,  and  half  a dozen  who  had  entered  were 
imprisoned  from  four  o’clock  till  nine  P.  M.  with  the 
rudest  crowd  the  city  could  furnish.  The  rowdies  ex- 
hausted their  resources  in  attempts  to  frighten  and 
browbeat  the  ladies  without  actual  violence  ; and  for  a 
while  it  looked  as  if  they  would  not  hesitate  at  that. 
They  called  for  beer  as  fast  as  two  persons  could  hand  it 
.out  to  them,  quoted  Scripture  in  blasphemous  mockery, 
and  parodied  the  songs  sung  by  the  ladies.  Finally  they 
raised  a cloud  of  tobacco  smoke  so  dense  and  sickening 
that  it  drove  out  two  of  the  ladies,  but  the  others  stood 
it  like  heroines.  They  did  not  attempt  any  religious 
exercises,  but  continued  most  of  the  time  in  silent 
prayer.  Before  the  evening  was  over,  the  proprietor 
was  heartily  ashamed,  of  his  patrons.  Precisely  at  nine 
o’clock  he  announced  that  the  “•  time  had  come  to  shut 
up,  according  to  law  ” (the  Baxter  bill  directs  that  all 
saloons  shall  close  at  that  hour),  and  turned  off  the  gas. 
He  followed  the  ladies  into  the  street,  shook  hands  with 
them  all,  and  said,  “ This  is  the  last  day  I will  open  a 
saloon  ; this  is  too  much  for  me.”  The  next  day  he  did 
not  open,  and  is  now  preparing  to  move  West. 

Fort  Wayne  has  a population  of  about  twenty-two 
thousand,  and  there  is  probably  not  a city  in  the  state 
that  does  a larger  liquor  business,  in  proportion  to  its 
size.  The  Germans  compose  about  one  third  of  the 
population,  and  are,  almost  to  a man,  bitterly  opposed 


430 


INTEMPERANCE, 


to  the  woman’s  movement.  Then,  in  addition  to  tliis, 
the  Christian  people  of  the  community  were  indifferent 
and  inactive  on  the  subject  of  temperance  long  after 
their  brethren  and  sisters,  all  about  them,  were  in  the 
field.  But  at  last  there  was  ah  awakening.  Though  it 
came  late,  the  city  was  aroused  from  centre  to  circum- 
ference. For  twenty  years  the  dram  shops  had  ruled 
the  town,  and  there  were  not  a hundred  respectable  peo- 
ple to  contest  their  sway ; but  almost  in  a day  all  this 
was  changed.  The  first  public  meeting  was  held  about 
the  middle  of  March,  and  within  a week  there  was  a 
powerful  central  organization,  and  branches  extending 
into  every  ward  in  the  city. 

The  plan  .of  operations  adopted  by  the  women  differed 
in  some  essential  particulars  from  that  generally  fol- 
lowed. Instead  of  praying  in  saloons  and  on  the  streets; 
they  resolved  to  hold  regular  morning  prayer  meetings 
in  the  churches,  and  then  start  out  upon  the  work  of 
the  day.  That  work,  it  was  decided,  should  consist  of 
visits  to  every  citizen,  to  secure  the  pledges  of  voters  not 
to  sign  any  more  petitions,  for  permits  under  the  Baxter 
law,  not  to  lease  property  to  liquor  sellers,  and  to  refrain 
from  drinking  themselves.  They  also  cumulated  the 
druggists’  pledge,  which  was  largely  signed.  As  can 
readily  be  seen,  this  course,  persistently  carried  out  by 
the  active  organizations  in  every  ward,  soon  rendered  it 
impossible* for  a saloon  keeper  to  renew  his  permit,  ac- 
cording to  the  requirements  of  the  law.  A lawyer  was 
employed  to  give  his  whole  attention  to  the  business, 
and  thus  prevent  the  perpetration  of  any  frauds  by  the 
saloon  keepers,  many  of  whom  had  afready  forfeited 
their  licenses  by  selling  liquor  on  Sundays  and  after 
nine  o’clock  at  night.  Committees  were  appointed  to 
gather  evidence,  and  the  men  put  their  hands  in  their 
pockets  liberally  to  back  any  prosecutions  that  might  be 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEISIEDY.  431, 

begun.  Under  this  strange  combination  of  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  the  influence  of  the  whiskey  element  gradu- 
ally wasted  away.  The  Sundays — hitherto  a boisterous 
holiday  — became  quiet,  and  the  nights  were  once  more 
free  from  the  sounds  of  revelry.  Unable  to  renew  their 
licenses,  and  afraid  to  continue  selling  without  them,  the 
dram  sellers  are  one  by  one  dropping  off,  and  seeking 
other  employment.  If  this  work,  so  energetically  be- 
gun, is  patiently  and  persistently  carried  forward,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  curse  of  intemperance,  if  not  wholly 
swept  from  the  city,  may  at  least  be  restricted  to  very 
narrow  limits. 

The  Christian  women  of  Indianapolis  became  inter- 
ested quite  early  in  the  campaign.  The  first  to  move  in 
the  matter  were  Quaker  ladies,  but  they  were  soon  re- 
enforced from  .other  denominations,  and  the  movement 
acquired  a strength  that  was  felt  and  acknowledged. 
The  high  respectability  of  those  connected  with  it  will 
be  seen  from  the  following  list  of  officers  of  the  “Wo- 
man’s Christian  Temperance  Union  : ” President,  Mrs. 
Delitha  Harvey ; Secretary,  Miss  Auretta  Hoyt ; Cor- 
responding Secretary,  Miss  Gertie  Holliday  ; Treasurer, 
Mrs.  Carrie  Evans.  There  are  also  prominent  in  the 
work  Mrs.  Hannah  T.  Hadley,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Jenkins, 
Mrs.  J.  Trueblood,  Mrs.  Bartlett,  Mrs.  Bayliss,  Mrs. 
Wingate,  Mrs.  Boggs,  Mrs.  Townsend,  Mrs.  Stagg,  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Holliday,  Mrs.  Israel  Taylor,  and  others.  While 
prayer  was  to  be  relied  upon  as  the  chief  weapon  in 
the  warfare,  these  ladies  determined  not  to  employ  it 
in  the  same  manner  as  their  sisters  in  the  Ohio  cities. 
The  direction  which  the  movement  took  was  towards  the 
County  Commissioners,  before  whom  came  the  petitions 
for  saloons,  under  the  Baxter  law.  These  documents 
are  examined  by  them,  and,  if  found  satisfactory,  the 
permit  is  at  once  issued.  But  this  system  had,  in  the 


432 


ESTTEMPEEANCE, 


large  cities,  and  especially  in  Indianapolis,  degenerated 
into  the  most  notorious  farce.  Under  the  old  law,  every 
liquor  seller  was  compelled  to  pay  a round  sum  for  a 
license.  Now,  all  he  had  to  do  when  he  wanted  a new 
permit,  or  his  old  one  renewed,  was  'to  hire  a man  to  go 
out  and  get  the  required  number  of  signatures ; and  it 
was  remarkable  how  readily  that  number  was  always 
obtained.  The  graveyards  were  generally  well  repre- 
sented, and  the  list  was  further  ornamented  with  the 
names  of  plenty  of  fictitious  persons,  non-residents, 
minors,  and  others,  with  an  occasional  property-holder 
or  two  thrown  in  to  give  character  to  the  thing.  When 
these  palpably  fraudulent,  lists  were  presented  ,to  the 
commissioners,  there  was  no  one  to  call  in  question  their 
genuineness,  and  they  were  generally  passed  upon  with- 
out any  objection  being  raised. 

Here,  the  ladies  perceived,  was  an  opportunity  for  use- 
fulness. They  could  be  present  at  the  examination  of 
these  petitions,  and,  with  very  httle  evidence,  expose 
their  fraudulent  character.  • Accordingly,  one  day,  the 
sedate  commissioners  were  surprised  in  their  delibera- 
tions by  a band  of  these  women,  who  came  in  in  the 
interests  of  temperance.  The  session  was  .opened  by 
prayer,  permission  to  pray  having  been  granted,  and 
then  the  batch  of  documents  passed  under  the  scrutiny 
of  these  zealous  women  and  their  legal  adviser,  with  the 
most  alarming  results  to  the  whiskey  fraternity.  Out  of 
twenty-four  petitions  presented,  only  four  stood  the 
test,  and  were  j)assed  upon. 

The  ladies  then  turned  their  prayerful  attention  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  existing  provisions  of  the  Baxter 
law,  especially  those  in  regard  to  liquor  selling  on  Sun- 
day and  after  nine  o’clock  at  night.  . As  in  most  of  the 
large  cities  of  the  country,  the  saloons  hardly  made  a 
■^I'etence  of  closing  on  Sunday  ; and  as  for  the  nine 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDT. 


433 


o’clock  provision,  a good  share  of  the  money  taken  in 
passed  over  the  counter  after  that  hour  of  night.  The 
temperance  movement  had  not  proceeded  far  before 
there  was  a public  sentiment  which  demanded  of  the 
city  authorities  the  execution  of  the  law  in  these  re- 
spects. An  order  was  issued  to  that  effect,  and  the 
result  was,  the  next  Sunday  was  the  quietest  ever 
known  in  Indianapolis.  « 

Three  objects,  then,  were  the  aim  of  the  women  of 
Indianapolis  — first,  to  arouse  public  sentiment;  second, 
to  persuade  men,  by  the  power  of  Christianity,  to  give 
up  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  ; and,  third, 
to  enforce  the  Baxter  law.  To  illustrate  how  successful 
they  were  in  their  first  object,  a union  mass  prayer  meet- 
ing, held  early  in  March  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  was 
crowded  to  excess,  and  upwards  of  a thousand  people 
were  turned  away  unable  to  get  in.  A similar  meeting 
was  in  progress  at  the  Third  Presbyterian  church,  and 
was  crowded  in  the  same  manner.  A month  before,  it 
would  have  .been  difficult  to  get  together  a corporal’s 
guard  to  talk  or  hear  about  temperance.  Though  the 
movement  took  a somewhat  legal,  turn,  it  never  for  a 
moment  lost  its  eminently  religious  character.  Every 
meeting,  for  whatever  purpose  called,  was  opened  by 
prayer,  and,  in  most  of  the  meetings,  religious  exercises 
were  the  chief  feature.  At  present,  the  organization  of 
the  women  has  reached  almost  absolute  perfection.  Its 
ramifications  extend  into’  every  ward, ‘street,  alley,  and. 
house  in  the  city ; and  so  well  do  the  ward  associations 
fulfil  their  mission,  that  the  men  who  sign  petitions  and 
thase  who  circulate  them  are  getting  to  be  a distinct 
race.  Those  ■ engaged  in  the  movement  belong  to  no 
particular  religious  sect  or  political  party.  Episcopali- 
ans and  Methodists,  Democrats  and  Republicans,  aU 
stand  upon  a common  platform,  and  battle  with  a com- 


434 


INTEMPERANCE, 


These  features,  which  are  so  prominent  in  the  capital 
city,  are  characteristic,  to  a greater  or  less  extent,  of  the 
work  throughout  the  state.  At  Lawrenceburg,  Union 
City,  Bedford,  Madison,  Greenfield,  Wabash,  Warsaw, 
Lafayette,  Kokomo,  Logansport,  Terre  Haute,  and  in 
scores  of  the  smaller  towns,  the  praying  method  and  the 
Baxter  law  have  joined  hands.  The  deficiencies  of  the 
one  are  supplementecLby  the  strong  points  of  the  other, 
aiid  the  result  is  a combination  so  powerful  that  few  of 
the  saloons  can  stand  up  against  it.  It  will  require  the 
most  persistent  watching  on  the  part  of  the  women  to 
see  that  the  demands  of  the  law  are  fully  met ; but  they 
have  pledged  eternal  vigilance  and  prayerfulness,  which 
alone  are  the  price  of  their  liberty.  If  this  work  in 
Indiana  is  carried  forward  for  a few  months  longer  with 
the  same  wisdom  and  zeal  that  have  characterized  it  thus 
far,  popular  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  temperance  will 
reach  a point  where  most  of  the  saloon  keepers  will  find 
it  profitable  to  go  out  of  the  business. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


435 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  woman’s  movement  IN  THE  LARGE  CITIES.  — DIFFERENT  CONDI- 
TIONS IN  CITY  AND  COUNTRY.  — THE  EXPERIMENT  FIRST  TRIED  IN 
DAYTON.  — HEROISM  OF  THE  PRAY'ING  BANDS,  AND*  INSULTING  CON- 
DUCT OF  THE  MOB.  — EXCITEMENT  PRODUCED  BY  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN 
COLUMBUS.  — DISCOURAGEMENTS  FROM  EVERY  QUARTER.  — PRAYER 
MEETING  IN  THE  CAPITOL.  — HOW  THE  MUNICIPAL  CODE  WAS  SAVED 
INTACT,  — THE  CRUSADE  IN  CLEVELAND.  — CINCINNATI  A FORMIDA- 
BLE POINT.  — THE  THREE  STAGES  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  THERE.  IN- 

TENSE OPPOSITION  OP  THE  LIQUOR  SELLERS  AND  GERMANS.  — THE 
CHURCHES  PUT  TO  GOOD  USE. — PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  MAYOR,  ETC. 

Early  in  the  progress  of  this  remarkable  movement, 
the  problem  of*  the  large  cities  began  to  excite  interest. 
“ The  praying  plan  will  do  well  enough  for  small  towns,” 
people  said,  “but  when  it  comes  to  the  large  cities,  — 
Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  and  Columbus,  — why,  it’s  folly 
to  think  about  it ! ” On  the  other  hand,  many  enthusi- 
astic friends  of  the  cause  firmly  believed  that  it  would 
triumph  everywhere  and  under  all  circumstances,  and 
would  soon  sweep  the  whole  cnrse  of  liquor  from  the 
land.  Then  there  was  a large  middle  class,  who  believed 
that  just  sq  far  as  the  movement  went,  it  would  do  good, 
and  that  therefore  it  was  the  duty  of  all  to  give  the 
women  every  encourageinent,  and  make  the  reform  ex- 
tend as  far  as  possible.  If  it  was  effective  in  driving 
out  the  saloons  and  reforming  drunkards  in  the . small 
towns,  it  would  be  a great  work ; and  if  anything  could 
be  done  in  the  cities,  there  was  so  much  the  more  to  be. 
thankful  for. 

It  will  very  readily  be  seen  that  the  conditions  of  sue- 


436 


INTE]MP:5RA:srCE, 


cess  in  a small  town  and  in  a large  city  are  very  differ- 
ent. In  the  former,  the  saloon  keeper  forms  a part  of 
the  social  fabric,  and  is  more  or  less  dependent  on  the 
esteem  of  his  -more  respectable  .fellow-citizens.  Unless 
he  is  on  good  terms  with  his  neighbors,  he  is  doomed  to 
an  isolation  that  soon  becomes  positively  unendurable. 
Whiskey  sellers  are  much  like  other  men  in  human  in- 
stincts and  pride.  The  taunts  thrust  by  schoolmates 
upon  their  children,  and  the  moral  aversion  of  the  com- 
munit}^  to  themselves,  cut  more  deeply  than  is  generally 
supposed.  In  the  city,  on  the  contrary,  the  saloon  keep- 
ers are  so  numerous  as  to  form  independent  business  and 
social  combinations.  If  the  better  class  .of  people  look 
down  upon  them,  it  makes  very  little  difference  with 
their  profits,  or  enjoyment  of  life.  They  are  courted 
and  paid  by  politicians.  They  are  winked  at  by  the  au- 
thorities. They  wear  good  clothes  and  drive  fine  horses, 
and  the  pleasures  which  wealth  can  purchase  amply 
compensate  for  all  the  loss  of  social  prestige. 

• There  are  other  things  which  render  success  less  diffi- 
cult in  the  country  towns.  There  the  women  know  the 
character  and  surroundings  of  each  of  the  saloon  keep- 
ers with  whom  they  have  to  deal,  and  can  therefore  ap- 
proach them  more  intelligently,  and  consequently  more 
effectively.  The  ladies  themselves,  also,  are  acquainted 
with  each  other,  and  readily  unite  in  the  work.  But  in 
the  cities,  society  is  divided  up  into  grades  and  cliques, 
which  can  no  more  combine  than  oil  and  water.  Ladies 
hardly  know  their  next-door  neighbors,  and  are  always 
afraid  of  them  until  they  become  well  acquainted.  Then 
the  ramifications  of  the  liquor  interests  are  so  vdde- 
spread,  and  have  so  important  an  influence  in  all 
branches  of  trade,  that  business  men  are  afraid  to  de- 
clare their  principles.  And  so  it  is  impossible  for  tem- 
perance men  to  separate  themselves  from  all  restraints, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REaiEDY. 


437 


and.  unite  themselves  in  opposition  to  the  power  of 
whiskey. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  the  friends  of  the  cause 
awaited  the  result  of  the  experiment  in  the  cities  with 
beating  hearts.  .It  early  became  apparent  that  that  ex- 
periment would  be  made.  Dio  Lewis  boldly  declared 
that  one  hundred  women  from  each  church,  in  any  city, 
hound  together  by  the  same  Christian  faith  and  zeal, 
would  drive  out  the  rum  shops  just  as  speedily  and  as 
surely  as  had  been  done  in  Washington  and  Wilmington. 
God’s  arm  was  not  shortened,  that  it  could  not  save  big 
towns  as  well  as  small  ones,  and  prayer  was  just  as  effec- 
tive ascending  from  the  stone  pavement  in  the  city  as 
from  some  obscure  cross-roads  in  the  country. 

The  first  city  of  any  size  to  begin  the  women’s  cru- 
sade was  Dayton.  The  work  had  just  been  inaugurated 
in  several  cities  of  intermediate  size,  such  as  Xenia,  Mt. 
Vernon,  Springfield,  &c.,  when  Dio  Lewis  came*there. 
Dayton  is  a manufacturing  town  of  about  forty  thousand 
inhabitants,  laid  out  in  broad,  beautiful  streets,  and  built 
up  with  substantial  residences’ and  business  blocks  which 
betoken  wealth  and  luxury.  How  many  of  those  hand- 
some stone  fronts  were  reared  on  the  tears  and  groans 
of  widows  and  orphans,  any  old  citizen  can  tell.  Large 
distilleries  in  the  city  and  vicinity  have  been  a prominent 
source  of  the  wealth  concentrated  there.  Add  to  this 
that  the  people  were  conservative  and  aristocratic,  and 
the  result'would  hardly  seem  favorable  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  praying  plan  of  overthrowing  saloons,  of 
which  there  were  over  five  hundred. 

But  the  movement  was  started.  A little  band  of 
temperance  women  began  to  pray  together,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  their  numbers  and  spirit  had  grown  too 
large  to  be  contained  within  narrow  church  walls.  A 
temperance  mass  meeting  was  held  in  Music  Hall,  pre- 


438 


INTEISIPERANCE, 


sided  over  by  Dio  Lewis,  and  on  the  next  day,  Februa- 
ry 20,  a permanent  organization  was  formed.  A vice- 
president  from  each  church  in  the  city  was  appointed, 
who  formed  a committee  for  the  arrangement  of  work. 
It  was  decided,  however,  not  to  move  at  once  upon  the 
saloons,  but,  by  prayer  and  private  endeavor,  to  make  a 
more  thorough  preparation  for  the  task  of  regenerating 
the  morals  of  the  city.  After  a few  days  spent  in  this 
manner,  a number  of  ladies  went  quietly,  in  small'  com- 
mittees, to  many  of  the  saloons,  and  gave  the  proprietors 
an  opportunity  to  yield  gracefully  in  advance.  But 
there  was  not  much  inclination  thus  to  yield.  More 
vigorous  measures,  therefore,  became  necessary.  After 
a few  more  mass  meetings  and  days  of  prayer,  two  hun- 
dred women  were  enhsted  for  active  service,  and  the 
band  felt  strong  enough  for  an  aggressive  move.  On 
the  morning  of  the  6th  of  March,  two  companies  were 
designated,  under  the- leadership  of  Mrs.  Weakley  and 
Mrs.  J.  Harry  Thomas,  respectively,  to  visit  the  saloons. 
There  were  twenty-two  in  each  band,  and  they  started 
out  with  a firm  step  ; but  beneath  their  water-proof 
cloaks  their  hearts  throbbed  anxiously.  The  rain  was 
falling  steadily,  and  as  the  women  huddled  together 
under  then-  umbrellas,  and  offered  up  their  earnest 
prayers,  tbe  crowd  recognized  their  heroism  by  deco- 
rous behavior.  Saloon  after  saloon  was  visited,  services 
generally  being  held  before  the  doors ; and  at  last  one 
man,  who  had  a light  stock  of  liquors,  offered  to  surren- 
der if  they  would  pay  him  first  cost.  The  vile  com- 
pounds were  then  emptied  into  the  gutter,  amid  much 
rejoicing.  In  the  afternoon  the  two  bands  exchajiged 
territory,  so  that  the  same  saloons  received  two  visits. 

The  excitement  now  began- to  increase.  The  bands  in- 
creased in  numbers,  and  more  favorable  weather  brought 
out  great  crowds  of  people  to  witness  the  strange  specta- 


ITS  ASPECT  APro  ITS  REMEDY. 


439 


cle  of  women  actually  praying  on  the  streets.  The  rab- 
ble began  to  grow  turbulent  and  threatening.  Saloon 
keepers  saw  the  matter  was  putting  on  a serious  aspect, 
and  fought  every  inch  of  ground  by  the  most  unscrupu- 
lous means.  It  socm  came  to  be  known  that  the  visit  of 
the  ladies  to  a saloon  meant  free  beer  and  whiskey  at 
that  place,  and  there  “the  boys”  rallied  in  force,  like 
vultures  over  a dead  carcass.  The  result  was,  more 
drunken  men  on  the  streets  than  had  been  seen  since 
the  Fourth  of  J uly ; and,  as  if  this  roundabout  warfare 
was  not  sufficient,  direct  insults  were  heaped  upon  the 
ladies.  The  voices  of  prayer  and  song  were  drowned 
by  those  of  ribaldry  and  blasphemy.  Bits  of  bologna 
and  crackers  were  thrown  at  the  kneeling  women,  who 
bore  these  indignities  meekly  and  with  no  word  of  re- 
proof. One  of  the  worst  elements  in  these  noisy  mobs 
, was  the  women,  mostly  of  foreign  nationalities,  who 
joined  their  screaming  to  the  shouting  and  swearing  of 
their  male  relatives. 

The  result  of  this  unseemly  mocking  and  jeering  was 
to  inflame  the  public  mind,  and  bring  thousands  out  to 
the  evening  mass  meetings,  where  reports  of  the  day’s 
proceedings  were  read  and  commented  upon.  Under 
such  dire  persecutions  the  bands  steadily  increased  in 
size,  and  grew  more  determined.  Says  a correspond- 
ent, — 

“ The  women  form  for  action  near  the  curbstone,  and 
are  speedily  encompassed  by  the  crowd,  who  watch  with 
varying  manifestations  and  emotions.  Lines  of  men  file 
into  the'  bars  to  quench  real  or  affected  thirst,  and  the 
clink  of  foaming  glasses  chimes  in  with  the  soft,  pathetic 
notes  of  the  worshipping  women.  But  the  plaintive 
voice  of  prayer,  when  the  women  on  bended  knees  sup- 
plicate the  mercy  of  God,  produces  an  instant  and  inde- 
scribable hush  even  in  the  bar-rooms;  and  as  the'elo- 


440 


INTEMPEKANCE, 


qiient  pleadings  ascend,  the  influence  quickly  strikes  the 
nearest  rank  of  spectators,  and  penetrates  to  the  outer- 
most fim  of  the  ragged  semicircle  formed  about  them. 
There  are  moments,  when  the  women  weep  and  pray, 
that  their  influence  is  thrillingly  impressive,  and  men 
even  who  do  not  approve  of  the  saloon  devotions  are 
unconsciously  but  irresistibly  affected.  Excepting  among 
the  depraved,  there  is  not  the  remotest  suggestion  of 
levity  in  the  scene.  It  is  toxrchingly  solemn.” 

For  nearly  a month,  operations  on  this  plan  continued 
with  httle  variation.  As  the  novelty  wore  off,  the 
crowds  of  spectators  decreased  somewhat,  and  the  op- 
position seemed  to  be  dying  out.  But  it  still  had  a most 
vigorous  life ; and  when,  on  the  6th  of  April,  the  muni- 
cipal election  came  on,  the  work  of  the  bummers  was 
brought  to  the  surface.  The  whiskey  candidate  for 
mayor  (Butz)  was  found  to  be  elected  over  the  temper- 
ance candidate  (Houk)  by  a large  majority ; and  whis- 
key councilmen  were  put  in  ofiBce,  to  see  that  no  trouble- 
some McConnelsville  ordmance  should  vex  the  peace  of 
the  saloon  keepers.  This  was  taken  as  a verdict  for  free 
whiskey ; and  next  morning,  when  the  women  reported 
at  Grrace  church  for  active  duty,  they  were  astounded 
by  the  following  proclamation,  which  emanated  from  the 
Board  of  Police  Commissioners  : — 

Whereas  it  has  become  apparent  to  this  board  that 
the  visits  of  the  recently  organized  bands  of  ladies  to 
the  various  saloons  in  the  city,  and  the  occupation  by 
them  of  the  sidewalks  and  streets  for  religious  exercises, 
have,  on  several  occasions,  attracted  large  crowds  of  riot- 
ous and  disorderly  persons,  who  assembled  in  the  vicinity 
in  such  numbers  as  seriously  to  threaten  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  the  city,  and  materially  to  obstruct  the 
free  and  proper  use  of  both  the  sidewalks  and  the 
. streets  ; and. 

Whereas  it  is,  by  the  laws  of  this  state,  unlawful  for 
any  person  or  persons,  by  agent  or  otherwise, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMBDT. 


441 


1.  To  sell,  in  any  quantity,  intoxicating  liquors  (ex- 
cept wine  manufactured  of  the  pure  juice  of  the  grape, 
cultivated  in  this  state,  beer,  ale,  or  cider),  to  be  drank 
in  or  upon  the  premises  where  sold,  or  in  or  upon  any 
adjoining  premises  connected  therewith ; 

2.  To  sell  any  intoxicating  liquors  whatever,  without 
exception,  to  minors,  unless  upon  the  written  order  of 
their  parents,  guardians,  or  family  physician ; 

3.  To  sell  intoxicating  liquors,  of  any  kind  whatever, 
to  persons  intoxicated,  or  in  the  habit  of  getting  intoxi- 
cated ; and. 

Whereas,  all  places  where  liquors  are  sold  in  violation 
of  these  laws  are  declared  public  nuisances,  and,  upon 
conviction  of  the  keeper  thereof,  are  required  to  be  shut 
up  and  abated  as  such ; therefore 

Be  it  known,  that  orders  have  been  issued  to  the  po- 
lice force  of  this  city  to  prevent  the  use  and  occupation 
of  the  streets  and,  sidewalks  as  aforesaid,  and  to  give 
special  and  careful  attention  to  the  enforcement  of  the 
said  laws,  and  make  prompt  arrest  of  any  and  all  per- 
sons violating  the  same. 

By  order  of  the  PoHce  Board. 

Wm.  H.  Sigman, 

Mayor  and  ex  officio  President  Police  Board. 

A council  of  war  was  held,  and  it  was  decided  best  to 
desist,  in  deference  to  the  law,  but  to  call  upon  the  au- 
thorities to  execute  the  law  so  appropriately  quoted  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  proclamation.  And  so,  after 
twenty.^five  days  of  unwearied  labor  in  the  interest  of 
temperance  and  humanity,  the  “ crusade  ” was  brought 
to  a sucf^en  end.  Operations,  however,  were  by  no 
means  suspended.  The  method  was  merely  changed, 
ad  at  the  present  writing  the  campaign  is  being  vigor- 
ously pushed  in  every  direction  but  that  of  street  “ cru- 
sading.” 

In  Columbus,  the  movement  passed  through  a great 
many  critical  preliminary  stages  before  it  came  to  street 
27 


442 


IHTEJIPEEANCE, 


praying.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  serious 
obstacles  encountered  in  this  city,  as  the  political  centre 
of  the  state,  and  of  the  interest  felt  in  the  cause  at  the 
capital  city,  throughout  the  state.  From  the  first,  every- 
thing seemed  to  go  wrong.  About  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary, an  immense  mass  meeting  was  held  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Dio  Lewis  ; but  for  some  reason  the  clergymen  * 
of  the  city  developed  a decided  antagonism  to  the  great 
temperance  apostle,  and  would  not  work  harmoniously 
with  him.  Prohibitionists  kicked  out  of  the  traoes  because 
law  was  not  the  objective  point.  The  newspapers  took 
grounds  against  the  movement.  Prominent  citizens  with- 
held their  means  and  influence,  and  when  a man  did  come 
to  the  front,  the  cry  was  raised,  “ It  is  a woman’s  move- 
ment. Let  it  alone,  or  you  will  spoil  it.’’  Bad  advice 
was  heaped  upon  the  movers  in  the  work,  and  bad  blood 
was  developed  at  almost  every  step. 

All  this  hindered,  but  did  not  discourage,  the  faithful 
and  persistent  women.  Thej^  held  their  women’s  meet- 
ing, turned  out  to  the  mass  meetings,  and  filled  the 
churches  when  temperance  sermons  were  preached. 
When  the  prohibitionists  and  preachers  got  into  a wran- 
gle, they  calmed  the  troubled  waters  by  a prajmr,  and 
one  of  the  soothing  old  hymns.  The  women’s  daily 
prayer  meetings  were  kept  up  with  increasing  interest, 
and  at  last,  in  the  face  of  all  discouragements,  they  de-  . 
cided  that  the  time  had  come  to  'go  forth  and^  grapple 
with  the  monster  in  his  very  haunts.  Without  any  pre- 
vious announcement,  one  hundred  and  fifty^omen  is- 
sued forth  from  the  Fii'st  Presbyterian  church,  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  3d  of  March ; and  while  the  deep- 
toned  bell  tolled,  took  their  way,  in  a long  and  solemn 
procession,  up  High  Street.  In  five  minutes  it  seemed 
as  if  half  the  people  in  town  were  on  their  track  to  wit- 
ness the  strange  sight.  The  great  retail  liquor  estab- 


SINGING  OUTSIDE  THE  SALOON. 


ITS  ASPECT  AlTD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


445 


lishment  of  Glock  & Stevenson  was  passed  by,  and  the 
column  came  to  a halt  before  the  American  House,  one 
of  the  leading  hotels  in  the  city.  Four  ladies  — Mrs. 
S.  V.  Desselleiii,  Mrs.  H..  C.  Lewis,  Mrs.  N.  J.  Miner, 
and  Mrs.  W.  W..  Bliss  ascended  the  broad  steps,  and  were 
received  in  the  parlor. by  the  proprietor  and  his  clerks. 
The  bar-keeper  was  summoned,  but  no  promise  to  quit 
could  be  extracted  from  him.  Two  large  saloons  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  were  entered,  and  impressive  ser- 
vices held.  Then  the  procession  filed  into  the  Neil 
House,  and  marched  back  to  the  office.  Neither  the  pro- 
prietor nor  bar-keeper  was  in,  and  .the  _ column  moved 
on,  followed  by  a crowd  of  two  thousand  or  more.  Other 
places  on  High  and  Broad  Streets  were  visited,  and  the 
ladies  returned  to  the  church  to  pray  and  talk  the  mat- 
ter over. 

The  second  day  of  the  campaign*  commenced  amid 
great  excitement.  The  women  were  upon  the  streets  in 
increased  numbers  and  with  reinvigorated  courage.  In 
the  afternoon,  three  'hundred  of  them  filed  out  of  the 
First  Bresbyterian  church,  and  amid  the  ringing  of  bells, 
moved  upon  the  saloons.  The  throng  of  excited  spec- 
tators increased  at  every  moment,  until  it  was  difficult 
for  the  police  to  clear  the  way  before  the  advancing 
column.  Saloon  after  saloon  was  visited.  Wherever  they 
were  admitted,  thej^  prayed  and  pleaded  with  the  saloon 
keeper,  and  when  'they  were  shut  out,  a prayer  and 
song  were  offered  on  the  steps.  The  vast  crowd  surged 
and  crowded  about  the  praying  women,  and  occasionally 
became  noisy  and  threatening.  At  lengtB  the  second 
day’s  work  was  done,  and  the  ladies  returned  to  the 
church,  where  continued  j^rayer  had  been  offered  up 
while  they  were  upon  the  street. 

Next  day  the  immense  crowds  induced  a change  of 
programme.  The  force  was  divided  into  four  good-sized 


446 


INTEirPEEANCE, 


bands,  each  going  in  an  opposite  direction.  During  the 
afternoon,  one 'of  the  squads  encountered  a crowd  of 
« Germans  at  a beer  saloon  on  West  State  Street,  who 
,had  eyidently  prepared  for  their  coming.  The  bar- 
keeper met  the  ladies  at  the  door,  and  refused  to  sign 
the  pledge.  The  ladies  then  began  to  siug,  and  imme- 
diately a shrill  cornet  within  struck  up  “Shoo  Fly,” 
which  was  continued,  with  ingenious  variations,  all 
through  the  prayer.  The  building  was  filled  with  men 
and  women,  who  yelled  and  cheered,  and  even  spit  upon 
the  kneeling  women.  The  chief  of  police,  who  was 
present,  made  a speech  to  the  crowd,  commanding  order. 
The  ladies  then  moved  on  to"  the  next  saloon,  while  the 
able-bodied  cornet  man  sarcastically  played,  “Home, 
Sweet  Home.”  As  soorr  as  they. were  gone,  the  crowd 
of  loafers  came  together  and  held  a mock  prayer  meeting, 
at  the  conclusion  of  which  all  were  invited  in  to  drink. 

While  the  ladies  were  kneeling  in  prayer  at  the  next 
place,  a beer  wagon  drove  up,  and  the  stalwart  German 
driver  shouldered  a keg  and  marched  through  the  circle 
into'  the  saloon,  at  which  bold  achievement  ffie  men, 
women,  and  children  set  up  an  unearthly  shouting  and 
screaming.  Among  the  results  of  the  first  few  days 
work  were  one  or  two  saloons  closed,  and  all  kinds  of 
liquor  banished  from  the  restaurant  at  the  Union  Depot. 
Many  signatures  were  also  added  to  the  citizens’  pledge, 
and  among  them  that  of  James  G.  Bull,  democratic 
mayor  of  ■ the  city.  Many  of  the  men  who  signed  the 
pledge  were  notoriously  hard  chunkers. 

This  method  of  operations  was  continued,  day  after 
day,  with  no  marked  success.  Tremendous  mass  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  great  City  Hall,  and  abundant 
sympathy  with  the  cause  was  exhibited.  But,  somehow, 
it  did  not  prosper.  No  man  of  recognized  ability  and 
force  came  forward  to  champion  the  movement  and  se- 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  E.E]\IEDy. 


447 


cure  for  it  aid  and  support  among  the  men.  There  was  . 
also  no  one  among  the  ladies  well'  adapted  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  forces.  Their  numbers  dwindled  from  day 
to  day ; the  excitement  subsided ; side  issues  were  raised ; 
and  within  a month  the  crusade  in  Columbus  was  prac- 
tically at  an  end.  Not  many  saloonists  had  quit,  but 
over  four  thousand  persons  had' signed  the  total  absti- 
nence pledge. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
ladies  formed  in  procession  and  marched  to  the  rotunda 
of  the  State  House,  where  they  took  possession,  and  sang 
and  prayed  for  an  hour.  The  members  of  the  General 
Assembly  left  the  halls  of  legislation,  and  formed  a circle 
about  the  prayer  meeting.  Hats  were  removed,  and  re- 
spectful attention  paid,  but  the  effect  of  all  this  labor 
upon  subsequent  legislation  was  not  apparent. 

Early  in  April  a bill  was  introduced  into  the  General 
Assembly  to  sO  amend  the.  municipal  code  as  to  take 
away  from  town  or  city  corporations  the  right  to  prohibit 
the  sale  of  ale  or  beer,  and  the  keeping  open  of  tippling 
houses  within  their  limits.  This  was  known  as  the 
Pearson  bill,  the  aim  of  which  was  to  knock  the  bottom 
out  of  the  hundreds  of  ordinances  similar  to  that  of  Mc- 
Connelsville,  which  were  going  into  effect  all  over  the 
state,  and  working  such  fearful  havoc  among  the  saloons. 

As  SDOii  as  this  bill  was  before  the  House,  both  parties 
rallied  their  forces  for  the  struggle.  Delegations  of  beer 
venders  poured  into  the  capital  to  see  the  bill  through, 
and  counter  delegations  of  crusaders  were  sent  to  pre- 
serve the  laws  intact.  Here,  again,  the  Columbus  ladies 
paid  their  respects  to  the  legislature.  When  it  was 
known  that  the  bill  had  come  up  for  discussion,  the 
alarm  was  given.  Bells  were  rung,  and  in  an  hour  the 
hall  was  filled  with  female  advocates  of  temperance, 
who  watched  the  words  and  vote  of  every  member  with 


448 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


exasperating  closeness.  The  hiU'  never  passed,  and  for 
this  the  friends  of  temperance  everywhere  are  indebted 
to  the  prompt  action  of  the  women  of  Ohio,  and  espe- 
cially of  Columbus.  On  Saturday,,  the  18th  of  April,  it 
being  the  last  session  of  the  House,  three  hundred  wmmen 
staid  with  the  members  until  midnight,  and  had  the  sat- 
isfaction of  knowing'  that  they  had  put  a quietus  on  the 
schemes  of  the  hquor  sellers  for  a year,  at  least. 

Cleveland  was  seized  suddenly  by  the  epidemic,  and 
experienced  a violent  attack.  The  city  is  nearly  three 
times  as  large  as  Columbus,  and  is  the  seat  of  a large 
liquor  trade.  The  inauguration  of  the  “ temperance 
crusade,”  therefore,  stirred  the  whiskey  elements  to  the 
lowest  dregs.  The  devotees  of  Gambrinus  learned  when 
the  ladies  were  going  to  make  then’  first  advance,  and 
were  on  hand  in  an  immense  mob  to  receive  them. 
March  19,  four  bands  started  out,  one  on  the  east  and 
three  on  the  west  side.  One  of  the  latter  bands,  while 
going  up  Pearl  Street,  was  followed  by  a fierce  and  ex- 
cited crowd,  who  assailed  them  with  yells  and  insulting 
remarks  whenever  they  attempted  to  sing  or  praju  The 
rabble  finally  became' entirely  unmanageable.  The  ladies 
were  threatened  with  violence,  and  one  or  two  of  them 
were  quite  seriously  injured.  A number  of  men  w'ho 
interfered  to  protect  the  ladies  were  severely  beaten, 
and  a policeman,  in  attempting  to  keep  the  mob  back, 
was  struck  on  the  head  with  a brick  and  nearly  killed. 
The  ladies,  at  last,  escaped  from  the  howling  popidace 
and  returned  home  in  safety. 

These  barbarous  demonstrations  of  course  excited 
indignation  in  the  minds  of  all  good  citizens,  and  many, 
who  had  been  opposing  the  movement  of  the  women, 
were  now  driven  to  take  sides  wdth  them.  Neutrality 
was  changed  to  sympathy,  and  sj^mpathy  grew  into  sup- 
port ; so  that  the  liquor  sellers,  next  day,  found  their 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


449 


opponents  strengthened,  rather  than  weakened,  by  the 
violent  treatment  they  had  received.  The  crusade  was 
renewed  with  increased  numbers.  An  angry  and  threat- 
ening crowd  followed  them,  and  when  a policeman  at- 
tempted to  arrest  one  of  a crowd  of  roughs,  a fight 
ensued,  in  which  the  police  were  obliged  to  use  their 
clubs  vigorously.  For  a while  a riot  seemed  imminent; 
but  re-enforcements  from  the  police  headquarters  pre- 
vented an  outbreak.  During  the  excitement  the  German 
brewers  organized  a procession  of  lager  beer  wagons,  in 
which  sat  men  on  beer  kegs,  drinking  as  they  moved 
along. 

That  same  night  both  parties  to  this  irrepressible  con- 
flict were  warned  by  a proclamation  from  Mayor  Otis 
to  “ abstain  from  all  such  assemblages  on  the  streets  of 
the  city  as  would  tend  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  com- 
munity, as  such  assemblies  were  in  direct  violation  of  an 
ordinance  of  the  city.”  It  was  announced  that  if  any 
attempted  to  molest  citizens  in'  the  orderly  exercise  of 
lawful  rights,  whether  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere,  it 
would  be  at  their  own  peril.  This  ambiguous  document, 
like  Belshazzar’s  warning,  or  a Delphic  oracle,  had  to  be 
interpreted  before  it  could  be  determined  to  whom  it 
applied.  The  judge  of  one  of  the  courts  came  to  the 
rescue,  and  decided  that  the  mayor  could  legally  pro- 
hibit the  assembling  of  the  ladies  io  pray  on  the  street 
before  a saloon ; but  if  they  were  admitted  inside,  the 
laws  of  the  city  could  no  longer  reach  them,  and  they 
could  carry  on  their  devotions  untrammelled  by  law. 

With  this  lucid  exposition  of  legal  restrictions  as  a 
guide,  the  ladies  went  on  with  'the  visitation  of  saloons. 
The  mayor’s  proclamation  rvas  strictly  observed.  Wher- 
ever they  could  persuade  a dram  seller  or  liquor  mer- 
chant to  let  them  in,  they  prayed  and  sang,  and  pleaded 
with  him  to  give  up  the  business ; but  where  they  were 


450 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


denied  admittance,  they  passed  quietly  on.  The  procla- 
mation and  the  emphatic  expression  of  puhhc  sentiment 
in  favor  of  protecting  the  ladies,  had  the  effect  to  allay 
the  excitement,  and  prevent  any  further  demonstrations 
of  violence.  Some  of  the  wholesale  liquor  establish- 
ments on  Water  Street  allowed  the  crusaders  to  come  in, 
and  for  a while  the  voices  of  prayer  rose  on  the  air  with 
the  fumes  of  rye  and  Bourbon. 

For  several  weeks  this  plan  of  operations  was  kept 
up  ; but  owing  to  the  restricted  field  of  labor,  the  ladies 
found  that  little  could  be  accomplished  beyond  obtaining 
names  to  the  citizens’  pledge,  and  exerting  an  infiuence 
privately.  Popular  interest  subsided  as  the  novelty  wore 
off,  and  at  last  the  beer  jerkers  were  allowed  to  carry  on 
their  avocation  unmolested  by  praying  women. 

Cincinnati  was  a point  which  the  crusaders  hesitated 
to  attack.  It  loomed  up  before  them  as  an  impenetrable 
barrier  to  their  complete  success.  The  general  behef 
was,  that  the  women  would  not  be  rash  enough  to  at- 
tempt any  movement  with  the  country  plan  of  praying 
in  saloons.  If  they  should,  people  predicted  the  gravest 
consequences  to.  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  city. 
Even  the  most  sanguine  friends  of  temperance  trembled 
for  the  result  of  the  battle,  when  they  made  a survey  of 
the  field.  To  begin  with,  there  were  between  three 
thousand  and  three  thousand  five  hundred  regular  places 
where  liquor  was  sold.  There  were  scores  of  heavy 
wholesale  houses,  the  aggregate  annual  trade  of  which 
amounted  to  thirty-three  million  dollars,  or  more  than 
double  the  value  of  the  immense  pork  trade  of  the  cit}’. 
Millions  of  capital  were  invested  in  this  vast-  business. 
The  money  made  by  the  breweries  and  distilleries  built 
scores  of  massive  business  blocks  and  elegant  private 
residences.  Banks  and  business  men  -were  largely  de- 
pendent on  whiskey  monej^  for  the  conduct  of  their 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


451 


trade.  Many  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  city  were 
whiskey  dealers,  and  their  rank  in  society  was  high. 

Then,  too,  the  habits  and  sentiments  of  the  people 
were  not  a pleasant  subject  of  contemplation  for  a tem- 
perance reformer.  One  third  of  the  population  were 
Germans,  educated  to  the  use  of  beer  and  wine  from 
’their  youth  up.  Every  movement  in  the  interest  of 
temperance  was  regarded  by  them  as  an  interference 
with  their  personal  rights,  and  an  abbreviation  of  the 
liberties  which  they  were  led  to  expect  in  coming 
to  this  land.  Those  who  entertained  opposite  views 
were  looked  upon  as  Puritans,  fanatics,  and  bigots.  To 
change  all  this  condition  of  aifairs  would  seem  like  over- 
turning the  very  foundation  of  things.  SociM  drink- 
ing among  Americans,  also,  was  quite  prevalent.  The 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  families  in  the  city  and  suburbs 
had  their  cellars  stocked  with  choice  wines  and  liquors, 
Tfhich  figured  conspicuously  in  the  hospitalities  of  the 
house.  Prominent  business  men,  lawyers,  physicians, 
and  politicians  took  their  occasional  or  regular  dram,  as 
they  had  done  for  years.  Young  men,  with  plenty  of 
money,  consumed  vast  quantities  of  choice  drinks  at  the 
high-toned  places ; while  in  the  common  beer  saloons 
gathered  thousands  of  laboring  men  and  mechanics,  to 
spend,  for  beer  and  whiskey,  a good  share  of  their  weekly 
earning's.  Well  authenticated  cases  are  cited  of  indus- 
trious  Germans  who  spent  regularly  a full  half  of  their 
pay  for  their  daily  supply  of  barley  juice. 

So  much  for  one  side  of  the  picture.  What  was  there 
on  the  other  ? A few  hundred  men  and  women,  who 
realized  the  terrible  evils  of  intemperance  ; about  twelve 
thousand  church  members,  who  could  generally  be 
counted  on  the  side  of  temperance,  though  some  of 
them  rented  property  to  liquor  sellers ; a carefully  elab- 
orated state  law,  which  was  as  dead  as  though  it  had 


452 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


been  enacted  in  China ; and  perhaps  what  was  more  than 
all,  the  inspiriting  example  of  the  scores  of  small  towns 
throughout  the  state,  reports  from  which  crowded  the 
daily  press.  To  inaugurate  the  woman’s  temperance  cru- 
sade on  such  a basis,  to  all  human  calculation,  seemed 
the  height  of  presum^Dtion.  But  it  was  done,  and  at  the  ^ 
present  writing  (late  in  April)  the  movement  is  still  in 
progress.  . 

The  honor  of  taking  the  - initiatory  step  belongs  to  the 
ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  which  has 
led  the  van  in  so  many  great  moral  reforms.  At  their 
Monday  morning  meeting,  about  the  first  of  March,  these 
clerical  gentlemen  unanimously  decided  that  the  spiritual 
and  temporary  interests  of  society  demanded  a great  tem- 
perance reformation,  and  indorsed  the  woman’s  movement 
as  the  best  means  of  effecting  this  great  work.  A call 
was  made  for  a meeting  of  the  ministers  of  all  denomina- 
tions, which  took  place  on  the  following  morning.  A 
large  number  of  clerical  gentlemen  of  all  stripes  of  belief 
were  present.  Views  were  interchanged,  and  plans  pro- 
posed, and  the  result  of  the  meeting  was  to  unanimously 
determine  upon  a mass  meeting  of  friends  of  the  woman’s 
temperance  movement,  to  be  held  at  Wesley  chapel,  on 
Thursday  evening  following.  A committee  of  two  from 
each  denominatioir  represented  was  appointed  .to  make 
arrangements  for  the  meeting,  and  prepare  rules  for  its 
government.  The  mass  meeting  was  largely  attended. 
Many  came  out  of  pure  love  for  the  cause,  and  many 
others  from  motives  of  curiosity,  expecting  that  a cru- 
sade was  to  be  organized  at  once.  Speeches  were  made 
by  a number  of  women,  ministers,  and  citizens  generally, 
,all  of  whom  with  one  voice  called  upon  the  women  of 
Cincinnati  to  organize  and  push  forward  the  work  begun 
by  their  sisters  throughout  the  state.  It  was  decided  to 
appoint  a woman’s  meeting  next  day  at  three  o’clock,  at 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  453 

tlie  First  Presbyterian  church,  and  the  assemblage  broke 
up  in  a glow  of  enthusiasm. 

The  woman’s  meeting  was  attended  by  about  three 
hundred.  They  were  not  from  the  wealthy  and  aris- 
tocratic classes  of  society ; nor  did  .they  represent  the 
opposite  extreme.  They  were  well-to-do,  intelligent, 
thoughtful  ladies,  many  of  whom  had  been  prominent 
in  charitable  and  Christiair  enterprises.  There  were  also 
a few  among  them  whose  plain  garb  and  pale,  sad  faces 
told  the  story  ‘of  personal  sufferings  from  the  evil  they 
longed  to  suppress.  The  burden  of  their  prayers  was,  ' 
that  they  might  be  guided  with  wisdom,  that  every 
^ word  might  be  spoken  in  love  and  gentleness,  and  that 
only  the  spirit  of  kindness  might  prevail  in  their  efforts 
with  the  liqijpr  sellers.  A deep  feeling  of  earnestness 
and  piety,  prevailed.  The  only  business  done  was  to 
appoint  a committee  of  six  ladies  to  have  charge  of  the 
organization  of  a league.  The  names  of  all  those  who 
would  volunteer  for  personal  service  were  enrolled,  and 
made  a lengthy  list. 

Then  followed  a series  of  temperance  mass  meetings, 
held  in  the  evenings  at  the  principal  churches.  Popular 
• interest  in  the  cause  was  exhibited  by  the  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  persons  who  flocked  in  to  these  meetings, 
and  listened  eagerly  to  every  word  that  was  said  for 
temperance.  At  the  second  regular  mass  meeting,  the 
wholesale  druggists  of  the  city,  through  Mr.  Burdsal, 
reported  that  they  had  voluntarily  agreed  to  sell  no  spir- 
ituous liquors  except  to  physicians  and  druggists,  and 
not  to  them  when  there  was  any  reason,  to  believe  it 
Avould  be  used  as  a beverage.  One  of  the  hotels  — the 
'Henrie  House  — also  reported  that  its  bar  should  be  ever 
, thereafter  discontinued  ; and  that,  to  this  day,  bears  the 
honorable  distinction  of  being  the  only  “ temperance 
hotel”  in  the  great  city  of  Cincinnati. 


454 


INTEMPEKANCEj 


- This  era  of  mass  meetings  continued,  unmarhed  by 
any  special  incident,  until  the  10th  of  March,  when  D. 
M.  Bleaks,  keeper  of  an  extensive  saloon  on  Fourth 
Street,  near  Plum,  and  formerly  chief  of  police,  sur- 
rendered, on  solicitation  of  a couple  of  ladies  who  went 
quietly  to  him  'with  the  request  to  close.  This  gave 
much  encouragement  to  the  women  about  entering  upon 
the  great  work.  It  was,  aften  mature  deliberation,  de- 
cided best  not  to  begin  at  once  with  the  visitation  of 
saloons  by  large  bands,  but  to  go  in  separate  committees 
•of  two  or  three,  and  talk  privately  with  the  liquor  sellers. 
To  facilitate  the  work,  the  city  was  divided  into  twenty 
districts,  each  embracing  about,  six  squaresi  Two  ladies 
were  appointed  to  have  charge  of  each  district,  the  un- 
derstanding being  that  they  should  first  canvass  their 
territory  thoroughly,  and  plead  with . the  Tiquor  sellers' 
to  yield. 

This  visitation  by  committees  was  properly  the  first 
stage  of  the  street  work  in  Cincinnati.  The  first  day  the}' 
started  out  in  this  manner,  there  was  a tremendous  sen- 
sation. As  the  two  or  three  elderly  ladies  passed  quietly 
along  the  street,  arm  in  arm,  the  cry  of,  “ Temperance 
women,”  was  raised,  and  soon  they  found  themselves  in 
the  midst  of  a dense  crowd  of  women,  children,  and 
rowdies,  who  -howled  and  surged  about  them  as  though 
they  were  an  invading  army,  or  some  wonderful  show 
on  wheels,  instead  of  a couple  of  Aveak  and  inoffensive 
■qmmen.  Some  of  the  committees  experienced  more  dif- 
ficulty than  others ; but  all  were  treated  in  the  most 
barbarous  and  insulting  manner,  and  received  scarcely 
a Avord  of  encouragement  from  any  one.  It  Avas  a Aveary 
and  thankless  task,  and,  when  day  after  day  of  this  try- 
ing labor  brought  no  results,  it  was  determined  to  adojpt 
some  more  effective  plan. 

By  this  time  organization  had  been  more  thoroughly 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSD  ITS  REMEDY.  455 

completed.  Advisory  and  executive  committees  were 
appointed,  to  have  entire  control  of  the  plans  and  move- 
ments of  the  league.  The  following  officers  wers  elected 
for  permanent  service  : President,  Mrs.  Chas.  Ferguson ; 
Fii  st  Vice-President,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Malone  ; Second  Vice- 
President,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Allen ; First  Secretary,  Mrs.  E. 
L.  Johnston;  Second  Secretary,  Mrs.  E.  G.  Dalton; 
Treasurer,  Mrs.  Dr.  E.  .Williams. 

One  incident  that  occurred  early  in  the  campaign  gave 
a new  impulse  to  the  movement.  The  brewers  of  Cin- 
cinnati loaded  up  wagons  with  beer,  organized  a force 
^f  five  or  six  hundred  able-bodied  Germans,  and  marched 
to  the  relief  of  the  saloon  keepers  in  the  adjoining  town 
of  Madisonville,  who  were  besieged  with  the  temperance 
band.  When  the  ladies  assembled  in  the  church,  the 
Cincinnati  crowd,  by  concerted  action,  formed  before 
the  door,  and  with  music  and  beer  thought  to  break  up 
the  proceedings.  Not  succeeding,  they  began  to  pour 
into  the  church,  to  overawe  the  few  feeble  women  in- 
side. But  fortunately  several  German  ministers  from 
Cincinnati' were  present,  and  preached  the  gospel  of 
Christianity  and  temperance  to  the  intruders  in  a man- 
ner wholly  unlooked  for.  The  scene  was  dramatic  and 
impressive ; and  so  well  did  the  women  and  ministers 
improve  their  opportunity,  that  some  of  those  who  came 
to.  scoff  were  actually  moved  to  tears.  Mrs.  Wells,  a re- 
markable little  woman,  who  afterwards  attained  quite  a 
reputation  for  her  pure  and  simple  eloquence,  did  most 
effective  service  at  this  crisis.  The  effort  to  overawe 

j Madisonville  ladies  was  a failure,  but  it  aroused  the 
Cincinnati  ladies  to  the  necessity  of  giving  their  liquor 
sellers  and  drinkers  enough  to  occupy  their  attention  at 
home. 

The  second  stage  of  the  work  ^ Cincinnati  was  the 
crusade,  after  the  approved  country  style.  The  plan  of 


456 


EsTESIPEKAXCE, 


visitation  by  committees  was  given  a fair  trial,  and  found 
to  be  wholly  ineffective.  It  was  necessary  either  to 
abandon  the  movement  altogether,  or  else  rally  more 
strength,  and  visit  the  saloons  in  bands  of  sufficient  size 
to  command  some  respect.  The  latter  plan  was  immedi- 
ately adopted.  Subordinate  leagues  began  to  be  organ- 
ized in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and  the  change  of 
tactics  gave  new  life  to  the  mass  meetings  which  were 
still  regularly  continued.  The  street  crusade  was  fairly 
inaugurated  on  the  morning  of  March  26,  when  thirty- 
five  women  arose  from  their  knees  in  the  Ninth  Street 
Baptist  church,  and  volunteered  to  go  with  Mrs.  Fergi^ 
•son  to  one  of  the  fashionable  Fourth  Street  saloons.  It 
^as  known  as  the  “ Custom  House,”  and  was  situated 
next  door  to  the  Merchants’  Exchange.  The  time  chosen 
for  the  visit  was  about  half  past  eleven  o’clock — just  the 
hour  when  the  business  men  on  ’Change  were  wont  to 
step  in  next  door  to  “ take  something.”  The  band  of 
women  descended  upon  the  place  so  suddenly  that  some 
of  the  honorable  merchants  who  were  inside  had  no 
chance  to  escape,  and  were  compelled  to  sit  for  half  an 
hour  and  listen  to  the  praying  and  singing.  They  would 
have  given  several  barrels  of  jpork  apiece  to  have  been 
able  to  crawl  through  a knot-hole ; but  they  were  faiidy 
caught,  and  put  on  a bold  front. 

The  news  of  this  sudden  raid  spread  through  that  part 
of  the  city,  and  in  a few  minutes  the  whole  square  from 
Main  to  Walnut  Street  was  packed  full  with  people, 
stretching  their  necks  in  a crazy  endeavor  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  women  behind  the  green  shade.  The 
services  over,  they  were  invited  to  come  again  next  day; 
which  invitation  they  promptl}'  accepted.  They  then 
pressed  their  way  out  through  the  crowd,  and  returned 
to  the  church,  where  prayer  had  been  offered  up  con- 
stantly while  they  -^^ere  out. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEilEDY.  457 

Four  other  bands,  numbering  from  thirty  tb  sixty 
each,  went  out  the  same  day,  exciting  the  greatest  com- 
motion in  their  respective  districts.  The  one  which 
attempted  some  missionary  work  in  the  German  beer 
saloons  on  Freeman  Street  met  with  the  most  shameful 
treatment.  The  crowd  rushed  in  pell-mell  after  them, 
mounting  chairs,  tables,  and  each  other’s  backs,  and  keep- 
ing up  a continuous  shouting,  yelling,  and  laughing. 
When  the  ladies  in  one  part  of  the  room  began  the  sweet 
strain,  “Rock  of  Ages,”  the  Germans  struck  up  “Die 
Wacht  am  Rhein,”  and  the  two  choruses  mingled  to- 
gether strangely  on  the  air. 

The  scene  next  day  near  the  Merchants’  Exchange 
was  more  exciting  than  the  first.  A crowd  of  two  or 
three  thousand  persons  surged  and  swayed  about  the 
little  nucleus  of  jDraying  women,  who  were  refused  ad- 
mittance to  the  saloon,  and  held  services  on  the  walk 
in  front.  AmM  the  yells  of  the  mob,  and  the  cries  of 
“ Keep  back  ” from  the  policemen,  rose  the  fervent, 
eloquent  prayers  of  Mrs.  Ferguson,  Mrs.  Leavitt,  Mrs. 
Glenn,  and  Mrs.  Stewart,  and  the  strains  of  the  well- 
known  hymns  could  be  heard  above  all  the  noise-  and 
commotion.  The  proprietor  of  the  saloon  mounted  a 
curb-stone,  and  addressed  the  thirsty  crowd  with,  “ This 
way,  gentlemen ; walk  in  and  get  your  drinks  ; there 
goes  another  fifteen  cents.”  The  excitement  increased, 
and  the  pushing  and  jostling  of  the  crowd  made  many 
tremble  for  the  safety  of  the  dauntless  band. 

A lieutenant  of  the  police  appeared  on  the  scene,  and 
said,  “For  God’s  sake,  ladies,  stop  this  ! you  wdll  create 
a riot ! ” A scissors-grinder,  who  had  been  hired  to  go 
through  the  crowd  ringing  his  bell,  was  stopped,  when 
he  came  near  the  ladies,  by  some  man.  A fight  ensued, 
and  the  scissors-grinder  was  arrested.  Another  man, 
who  tried  to  create  a disturbance,  was  arrested,  but. 


458 


XNTEMPEEAI^CE, 


at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  ladies,  was  released  hy 
the  authorities. 

In  Fulton  — a remote  corner  of  the  city,  l}dng  far  up 
the  river  — the  crusade  was  begun  early,  and  prosecuted 
with  vigor,  squads  of  ladies  going  out  daily  in  street  cars, 
from  the  city  to  re-enforce  the  little  band.  Their  labors 
were  rewarded,  after  a few  days,  with  the  first,  and 
almost  the  only,  “ pouring  out  ” during  the  whole  course 
of  the  movement  in  Cincinnati.  Eichard  Manley,  who 
kept  a beer  saloon  and  billiard-room  on  Front  Street, 
broke  in  upon  the  hymn  they  were  singing  one  morning, 
with,  “ Hold  on  a minute  — I’ll  give  upl”  He  then  told 
the  ladies  that  his  whole  stock  was  at  their  disposal,  and 
that  he  himself  would  help  to  throw  the  vile  stuff  into 
the  street.  With  beaming  faces  the  ladies  rolled  out  the 
beer  barrels,  knocked  out  the  fawcets,  and  sent  the  con- 
tents reeking  through  the  gutters.  The  bottles  upon 
the  shelves  were  brought  out,  and  dasheff  upon  the  pave- 
ment, before  the  eyes  of  the  gaping  crowd  that  stood 
about.  After  the  saloon  had  been  emptied  of  everything 
that  could  moisten  the  throat,  or  make  glad  the  heart  of 
man,  the  proprietor  thought  of  some  fine  old  Catawba, 
stored  away  in  the  cellar.  This  was  soon  hunted  up,  and 
shared  the  fate  of  the  rest,  the  conscience-stricken  sa- 
loonist  saying,  if  he  owned  all  the  liquor  between  there 
and  Columbia,  the  women  might  have  the  whole  of  it. 

This  campaign  of  active  street  work  was  just  begin- 
ning to  bear  promising  fruits,  when  it  received  a sudden 
and  unlooked-for  check  at  the  hands  of  the  mayor.  The^ 
bands  of  women  were  increasing  in  numbers,  and  the 
rabble  was  gradually  diminishing  in  numbers  and  grow-" 
ing  less  dangerous,  when  Mayor  Johnston,  at  the  instance 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  sent  in  to  one  of  the  morning 
meetings,  about  the  last  of  March,  a quasi-proclamation. 
He  “ respectfully  urged  that  the  women  would  desist 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY.  459 

from  any  .further  interference  with  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  the  business  community,  and  adopt  some  other 
mode  of  accomplishing  their  desires,  which  was  not  so 
objectionable.”  His  imperative  duty  demanded  of  him 
the  enforcement  of  the  ordinances  with  which  the  ladies 
had  come  into  collision.  The  document  created  quite  a 
commotion,  and  was  at  once  referred  to  the  Adrisory 
Committee,  with  instructions  to  consult  with  lawyers 
•upon  the  questions  involved,  and  report  at  the  next 
meeting.  The  decision  of  the  committee  was,  to  abide 
scrupulously  by  the  ordinances  of  the  city,  and  cease 
praying  upon  the  streets ; but  to  call  upon  the  mayor, 
in  turn,  to  enforce  dll  the  ordinances.  They  argued  that 
a technical  trespass  of  theirs  should  not  be  dealt  with 
more  severely  than  the  open  and  constant  violations  of 
the  law  on  the  part  of  the  saloon  keepers. 

Then  began  the  third  stage  in  the  movement.  In 
response  to  inquiry  as  to  what  they  might  do,  the  mayor 
had  told  the  women  they  might  meet  in  the  public 
squares  of  the  city,  and  pray  all  they  liked,  or  even  in  the 
saloons,  if  the  proprietors  were  willing  to  admit  them. 
Here  the  ladies  saw  an  opportunity  for  usefulness,  and 
were  prompt  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  The  bands  con- 
tinued, as'  before,  to  meet  in  the  Ninth  Street  Baptist 
church  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  afternooir  to  send 
forth  from  the  headquarters  of  the  various  leagues  as 
many  volunteers  as  were  available.  These  bands  went 
to  the  market  spaces  and  public  squares  in  their  district, 
and  there  preached  the  gospel  of  temperance  and  Chris- 
tianity to  the  crowds  that  gathered.  Saloons  were  called 
at  on  the  way  to  and  from  these  services ; but  the  liquor 
sellers,  as  if  by  concerted  action,  uniformly  refused  them 
admittance,  and  they  passed  on,  without  infringing  on 
the  majesty  of  the  law. 

The  labors  of  the  daj'^  ended,  the  bands  took  their  way 
28 


460 


INTEMPERA2!TCE, 


back  to  tbe  chnrcb  from  wbicb  they  started  out,  great 
crowds  of  the  unwashed  following  at  their  heels.  The 
doors  of  the  church  were  thrown  open,  and  the  street 
rabble  rushed  in,  filling  all  available  space.  This  was 
probably  the  most  successful  feature  of  this  stage  of  the 
work  in  Cincinnati.  In  these  meetings,  men,  women, 
and  children  heard  the. gospel  of  peace  who  had  never 
been  inside  of  a church  before.  One  young  man,  who 
was  thus  led  in,  acknowledged  to  the  ladies  that  it  was 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  heard  the  story  of  Christ. 
Pledges  were  always  ready  at  the  desk,  and  hundi-eds  — 
almost  thousands  — of  men  and  boys,  in  the  .course  of 
these  meetmgs,  voluntarily  walked  forward  and  took 
upon  themselves  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  Some 
failed  to  keep  it,  and  yielded  to  subsequent  temptations  ; 
but  rhany  did  not,  and  now  bless  the  “ prajdng  women” 
for  their  deliverance  from  the  terrible  curse  of  intem- 
peranoe.  Among  the  leagues  which  did  the  most  effective 
service  in  this  direction,  was  that  having  its  headquarters 
at  Finley  chapel,  and  led  by  Mrs.  S.  K.  Leavitt,  Mrs. 
Alfred  Hill,  and  others  ; that  of  the  Ninth  Street  Bap- 
tist church,  in  which  Mrs.  Whitredge,  Mrs.  Ferguson, 
and  Mrs.  Dr.  Dalton  were  prominent ; that  of  St.  Paul's 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  led  by  Mrs.  Glenn  and  Mrs. 
Bishop  Clark  ; that  of  York  Street,  headed  by  Mrs. 
Hudelson,  Mrs.  Robbins,  Mrs.  Moore,  and  others  ; and 
that  of  Wesley  chapel,  in  which  Mrs.  W.  I.  Fee  and  Mrs. 
George  B.  Beecher  took  an  active  part.  These  bands 
varied  in  size  from  day  to  day,  but  were  generally  all  on 
the  streets  at  the  same  time,  and  numbered  in  the  aggre- 
gate from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty. 

At  the  present  writing  this  method  of  operations  is 
still  observed.  The  authorities  having  shown  no  dis- 
position to  enforce  the  ordinances  of  the  city  against 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDT. 


461 


saloon  keepers,  the  ladies  do  not  adhere  strictly  to  the 
mayor’s  orders,  hut  sing  and  pray  wherever  the  spirit 
moves  them.  Generally,  however,  devotional  exercises* 
are  confined  to  the  market-places,  and  the  infringements 
upon  the  sacred  rights  of  saloon  keepers  are  of  short 
duration,  and  somewhat  rare  occurrence.  What  the 
next  stage  of  the  movement  will  be,  it  is  impossible  to 
predict.  It  still  has  a strong  and  vigorous  life,  which  is 
a sufficient  guarantee  that,  in  some  form  or  other,  its  in- 
fluence will  be  felt  for  years.  But  the  test  has  been 
applied,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  for  the  redemption 
of  large  cities  from  whiskey,  the  woman’s  Movement  is 
a.  failure. 


462 


LNTEMPEKANCE, 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  MOVEMENT  IN  THE  EAST.  — ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST.  — IN  THE 
SOUTH  AND  WEST. WOECESTER  THE  TRIAL  POINT  IN  NEW  ENG- 
LAND.   THE  WESTERN  PLAN  DISCARDED.  THE  INTEREST  IN  NEW 

TORE  CITY.  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  CRUSADE  FELT  IN  CONGRESS.  

DESCENT  UPON  THE  MARYLAND  LEGISLATURE.  GREAT  RESULTS  IN 

PHILADELPHIA.  DISGRACEFUL  SCENE  IN  CHICAGO.  IN  GENERAL. 

It  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that,  'witliin  three 
months  from  the  time  the  first  prayer  was  made  in  the 
streets  of  Hillsboro’,  the  Woman’s  Temperance  Move- 
ment had  spread  over  the  entii’e  country.  The  temper- 
ance columns  of  the  daily  papers,  in  a single  day,  con- 
tained despatches  from  Kansas  and  California  on  the 
west,  from  New  York  and  Massachusetts  on  the  east, 
and  from  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  on  the  north,  while 
even  the  Southern  States  gave  evidence  of  an  awakened 
interest  in  the  subject.  But  the  farther  the  movement 
got  from  its  source,  the  less  it  seemed  to  have  of  its  ori- 
ginal force  and  vitality.  As  the  originator  of  the-  plan 
was  wont- to  observe,  the  Ohio  Valley  was  about  the  only 
soil  in  which  the  thing  would  grow.  In  other  states  it 
took*  on  new  and  strange  forms,  and  generally,  after 
passing  rapidly  from  one  experiment  to  another,  died 
out  after  a few  weeks’  ag-itation. 

Considerable  interest  was  excited  in  the  success  of  the 
movement  in  the  East,  where  temperance  legislation  for 
the  past  twenty  years  has  been  so  prominent  a subject 
in  politics  and  morals.  In  the  course  of  his  second  tour 
through  Ohio,  Dio  Lewis  announced  that  he  was  about 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  463 

to  return  to  inaugurate  the  work  in  Massachusetts,  and 
declared  his  belief  that  Worcester  could  throw  off  the 
horrid  incubus  in  three  weeks,  and  Boston  in  as  many 
months.  For  various  reasons,  Worcester  was  selected 
as  the  first  point  of  attack.  A mass  meeting  was  held 
on  the  evening  of  March  2,  under  the  direction  of  Dio 
Lewis..  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  meeting  was  a 
success.  . Many  went  there  with  positive  prejudices 
against  the  praying  plan,  and  many  others  without  the 
least  confidence  in  its  success ; but  Dr.  Lewis  worked 
with  such  peculiar  tact,  and  told  the  story  of  the  crusade 
in  Ohio  with  such  good  effect,  that  the  whole  audience 
soon  reached  a state  of  enthusiasm  that  was  a surprise  to 
themselves.  It  was  soon"  apparent  that  there  were  sev- 
eral hundred  women  in  the  audience  ready  for  vigorous 
work.  The  signs  were  so  encouraging  that  the  over- 
sanguine  orator  predicted  that  within  two  weeks  the 
thirstiest  man  in  Worcester  must  drink  water,  or  go 
dry.  But  then  came  a two  days’  season  of  debate  and 
deliberation,  during  which  the  warmth  of  their  enthusi- 
asm cooled  off  very  perceptibly.  After- talking  the  mat- 
ter over  long  and  earnestly,  it  was  decided  to  be  imprac- 
'ticable  for  the  conservative  East  to  adopt  the  peculiar 
method  of  the  unconventional  West,  and  a compromise 
was  agreed  upon.  Instead  of  praying  in  saloons  until 
the  keepers  would  close  up,  the  women  determined  to 
go  in  smaller  bands,  and  work  by  private  and  personal 
appeal,  not  only  with  the  liquor  seller,  but  with  the 
owner  of  the  property  which  was  rented,  for  the  sale  of 
liquor.  Hotel  keepers  and  druggists  were  to  be  pro- 
ceeded with  in  a similar  way. 

This  mode  of  operations,  it  will  be  perceived,  was  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  Ohio  way  of  doing  things,  and 
yet  it  was  an  indication  of  a deep  and  genuine  temper- 
ance revival.  Eastern  people  generally  approved  the 


464 


INTEMPEEANCB, 


plan  as  mucli  better  than  that  of  marching  through  the 
streets  in  large  bands  ; and  it  was  generally  believed  in 
the  West  that  the  Ohio  plant  would  not  bear  transplan t- 
ment  into  a climate  so  uncongenial.  This,  then,  practi- 
cally settled  the  question,  not  only  for  Worcester  and 
Central  Massachusetts,  but  also  for  all  New  England. 
No  doubt  some  good  has  been  accomplished  by  the 
method  of  operations  chosen;  but  there  have  been  no 
reports  of  surrenders  of  saloon  keepers,  or  of  any  pour- 
ing out  of  liquors.  Boston  was  left  to  enjoy  her  thirty- 
five  hundred  dram  shops  in  security,  and  the  prediction 
of  Dio  Lewis  went  unfulfilled.  The  refined  tastes  of 
New  England  could  not  tolerate  such  Western  vulgar- 
isms. 

Boston,  however,  deserves  the  credit  of  some  good 
resolutions.  The  next  day  after  the  Worcester  meeting, 
the  Total  Abstinence  Society  of  Boston  passed  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

“ Resolved^  That  inasmuch  as  the  women  and  children 
are  the  chief  sufferers  of  the  untold  evils  of  intemper- 
ance, it  is  eminently  appropriate  that  the  female  sex 
should  take  the  most  active  part  in  the  efforts  of  the 
day  for  the  suppression  of  this  universally  acknowledged 
immorality  ; and  we  look  with  deep  interest  on  the  wo- 
men’s movement  in  regard  to  temperance  reform,  and 
cherish  the  hope  that  a divine  Providence  will  direct 
and  rule  over  it  for  good. 

'■'‘Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  board,  no 
great  success  in  the  temperance  reform  can  be  expected 
till  the  Christian  church  and  ministry  take  a decided 
stand  on  the  side  of  total  abstinence.” 

Dio  Lewis  first  appeared  in  New  York  city  on  the  last 
day  of  February.  Very  little  temperance  excitement 
had  preceded  him,  and  the  mass  meeting  at  Association 
Hall  was  not  an  astounding  success.  An  admission  fee 


ITS  ASPECT  AOT)  ITS  EEjSIEDr. 


465 


was  charged,  although  Dio  Lewis  gave  his  services  free. 
Nothing  was 'done  at  that  meeting,  or  indeed  at  any  sub- 
sequent time,  towards  an  organized  crusade,  on  Western 
principles.  The  general  influence  of  the  revival  in  other 
parts  of  the  country,  however,  took  a strong  hold  on  the 
popular  mind.  Vicar-General  Turner,  at  St.  James 
Cathedral,  in  Brookhm,  a week  later,  referred  to  the 
temperance  movement,  and  urged  his  congregation  to 
give  it  all  the  aid  in  their  power.  This  is  one  of  the 
few  instances  in  which  the  crusade  was  sanctioned  by 
high  authority  in  the  Catholic  church.  The  agitation 
of  the  question  in  the  city  was  continued  for  a month 
or  more,  in  a variety  of  ways.  Once  or  twice,  a small 
number  of  ladies  in  Brooklyn  quietly  began  a saloon  vis- 
itation, but  this  phase  of  the  work  never  grew  into  any 
prominence.  Meetings  of  clergymen  and  friends  of  the 
cause  were  held  from  time  to  time,  and  the  customary 
resolutions  passed,  reciting  the  evils  of  intemperance, 
and  the  necessity  for  some  action  for  their  suppression. 

At  a meeting  held  in  the  Hanson  Street  Methodist 
church,  on  the  evening  of  March  12,  Dio  Lewis  took 
charge  for  five  minutes,  in  true  Western  style.  He 
called  for  all  the  men  who  believed  in  Christian  women 
and  their  work  to  get  up.  Hundreds  jumped  to  their 
feet,  while  applause  shook  the  house.  He  next  called 
for  the  women  who  thought  intemperance  a curse,  and 
who  were  willing  to  help  rid  the  country  of  it,  to  rise. 
A -multitude  of  women  were  on  their  feet  instantly. 
He  then  called  for  all  the  men  and  women  who  were 
ready  to  unite  in  the  work  to  get  up,  whereupon  nearly 
the  whole  audience  arose,  amid  great  enthusiasm.  Dr. 
Lewis  pronounced  it  “ magnificent.”  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Steel,  jumping  up,  said,  “ It  is  magnetic ; ” while  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Fulton,  walking  up  and  down  the  platform, 
cried,  “ Glorious ! glorious  ! ” But,  as  far  as  heard 
from,  nothing  ever  came  of  it. 


466 


INTEMPERANCE, 


Strange  as  it  may  sound,  the  influence  of  this  temper- 
ance movement  was  felt  even  in  the  halls  of  Congress. 
On  the  2d  of  March,  Judge  Lawrence,  of  Ohio,  in- 
troduced into  the  house  a bill  which  provides  that  in 
the  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  every  husband,  wife,  child,  parent,  guar- 
dian, or  other  person  who  shall  be  injured  in  person, 
property,  or  means  of  support,  by  any  intoxicating  liquor, 
in  person,  or  in  consequence  of  the  intoxication,  habitual 
or  otherwise,  of  any  person,  shall  have  the  right  of  ac- 
tion, in  his  or  her  own  name,  against  any  person  or  per- 
sons who  shall,  by  selHng  or. giving  intoxicating  liquor, 
have  caused  intoxication,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  such 
person  or  persons,  for  all  damages  sustained  and  exem- 
plary damages  ; and  the  owner  or  lessee,  or  person  or 
persons,  renting  or  leasing  any  building,  or  persons  hav- 
ing knowledge  that  intoxicating  liquors  are  to  be,  or  are 
being,  sold  thereon,  or  who  shall  knowingly  permit  in- 
toxicating liquors  to  be  sold  in  such  building  or  prem- 
ises, shall  be  liable  for  all  such  damages,  severally  or 
jointly,  ^c. ; all  of  which  is  substantially  the  Ohio  Adair 
law  transplanted  into  national  legislation. 

The  following,  partaking  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a 
joke,  was  presented  to  the  Senate,  March  18,  by  Senator 
Carpenter  himself.  The  letter  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Finance,  and  ordered  “to  be  printed.” 

New  York  City,  March  18,  1874. 

To  Senator  Carpenter,  President  of  the  Senate  : 

As  the  tidal  wave  of  the  temperance  crusade  wiU  soon 
Teach  Washington,  on  behalf  of  the  army  of  women  who 
are  ahve  to  the  movement,  we  ask  you  to  join  our  ranks. 
Your  high  position,  your  well-known  eloquence,  and 
your  championship  of  women,  mark  you  as  a man  to 
step  to  the  front.  We  want  you  and  Senators  Chandler 
and  Sprague  to  inform  the  committee  to  receive  our 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY. 


467 


praying  band  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate.  Congress  is  be- 
ginning to  recognize  this  leading  reform.  The  bill  just 
passed  to  investigate  drunkenness  proves  this.  Will 
you  read  this  appeal  to  the  Senate,  asking  permission  to 
receive  our  band  under  the  escort  of  your  chaplain  ? 

^ Yours,  in  behalf  of  the  crusaders, 

j Mrs.  P.  R.  Lawrence. 

About  a Aveek  later  a mass  meeting  was  held,  under 
the  auspices  of  Dio  Lewis,  at  which  General  Leggett, 
Commissioner  of  Patents,  was  one  of  the  principal 
speakers..  Meetings  of  clergymen  were  also  held  on 
various  occasions,  but  nothing  resembling  the  woman ^s 
praying  movement  was  attempted  in  the  city  of  W ash- 
ington. 

Annapolis,  the  quiet  seat  of  the  Maryland  legislature, 
received  a visitation-  of  women  about  the  middle  of 
March,  much  in  the  Western  s'tyle.  A bill  was  before 
the  legislature  to  allow  townships  and  wards  to  deter- 
mine'for  themselves  Avhether  they  should  allow  liquor  to 
be  sold  within  their  limits  — in  other  words,  a local 
option  law.  Baltimore  became  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion. An  immense  meeting  was  held  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  measure,  and,  shortly  after,  a delegation  of 
one  hundred  ladies  started  by  steamer  for  the  capital 
city,  to  present  a memorial  to  the  legislature  in  favor 
of  local  option.  When  the  steamer  arrived,  the  House 
was  in  session,  and  the  ladies  were  furnished  with  seats 
in  the  lobbies.  Shortly  after,  the  House,  in  order  to 
rid  itself  of  the  crusaders,  adjourned,  and  most  of  the 
members  left  the_  halh  The  ladies  then  took  possession, 
sang  a hymn  and  the  doxology,  and  adjourned  them- 
selves. The  memorial  was  then. presented  to  the  Senate, 
where  it  was  received  and  read.  Shortly  after  the  ad- 
journment of  the  House,  a brass  band  appeared  to  sere- 
nade the  ladies  ; but  their  attentions  were  cut  short  by 


468 


ESTTElMPERAlirCB, 


order  of  tlie  President  of  the  Senate.  A temperance 
mass  meeting  was  then  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Capitol ; 
and  soon  after,  the  ladies  returned  to  Baltimore  by  the 
steamer. 

The  Pacific  coast  was  not  exempt  from  visitation  by 
the  temperance  revival.  A regular,  organized  crusade 
was  entered  upon  by  the  women  of  San  Francisco  early 
in  March.  Their  visits  were  mainly  confined  to  corner 
groceries  where  liquor  was  sold ; and  in  a few  days  six 
of  these  were  reported  closed,  as  far  as  the  whiskey 
business  was  concerned.  The  women  filso  appeared  be- 
fore the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  presented  a petition 
for  an  increase  of  the  licenses  paid  by  the  liquor  sellers. 
Mayor  Otis  gave  his  indorsement  to  the  movement  soon 
after  it  was*  begun,  and  wished  the  ladies  success  in  all 
their  efforts  against  intemperance.  But.the  most  unique 
feature  of  the  movement  in  California  was  a bill  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly,  making  it  a misdemeanor  for 
a person  to  accept  an  invitation,  or  invite  another,  to 
drink  at  a public  bar. 

In  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  the  ladies  orgauizkl,  and  pushed 
forward  the  work  with  considerable  energy.  Many 
other  towns  in  Western  Pennsylvania  became  aroused, 
and  inaugurated  the  street  praying  movement.  In 
Ithaca,  Lockport,  Elmira,  and  a large  number  of  cities 
and  villages  in  Western  New  York,  the  temperance  re- 
vival Avas,  for  weeks,  the  all-absorbing  topic.  From 
Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Michigan,  reports  came  of  the 
same  work  going  on.  Even  from  Louisiana  came  words 
of  congratulation  and  encouragement  to  the  “noble 
Christian  women,  throughout  the  country,  in  their  Tip- 
rising against  the  gigantic  vice  of  the  age.”  In  Leav- 
enworth, Kansas,  the  men  went  with  the  women  to  pray 
in  the  saloons,  and  consequently  the  whole  party  was 
very  badly  treated.  • 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


469 


In  Philadelphia,  the  work  was  begun  quietly,  and  car- 
ried forward  with  very  little  noise,  but  a great  work  was 
accomplished.  The  saloon  keepers  took  the  alarm,  and 
were  advised  by  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Liquor 
Dealers’  Association  to  close  all  their  dram  shops  on 
Sunday.  Some  twenty,  who  failed  to  heed  this  injunc- 
tion, were  arrested  by  the  police,  and  heavily  fined.  If 
reports  are  to  be  trusted,  the  labors  of  the  women  were 
rewarded  with  greater  results  in  Philadelphia  than  in 
any  other  large  city.  At  a temperance  meeting  held  in 
Horticultural  Hall  about  the  middle  of  April,  the  follow- 
ing statement  was  made  by  Mrs.  Dr.  Elizabeth  J.  French, 
regarding  the  great  work  which  had  been  going  on.  It 
took  the  outside  public,  and  even  the  Philadelphians 
themselves,  by  surprise. 


Saloons  visited,  406 

Refused  admission  to, ' 2 

Expelled  from, 7 

Church  members  who  had  rented  property  for 

saloons,  agreeing  to  rent  them  iio  moi’e,  . . 38 

Churches  opened  to  the  “band,” 212 

“ refused, 2 

Saloons  closed, . 367 

Pledges  signed  by  saloon  keepers, 281 

“ “ “ bar  keepers  who  resigned,  . 80 

“ “ “ drunkards, 1,613 

Children  sent  to  Sunday  school, 411 

Converted, 200 

Members  of  the  praying  band, 24,870 


Chicago  developed  more  fierceness  and  bitter  hostility 
between  the  two  factions  — or,  at  least,  on  one  side  — 
than  any  other  of  the  large  cities  in  which  the  work  was 
commenced.  The  women  began  visiting  saloons  early 
in  March ; but  this  method  of  operations  met  with  in- 
tense opposition  from  the  saloon  keepers  and  their  ad- 
herents, and  was  at  length  abandoned,  without  having 


470 


INTEIMPEEAKCE, 


produced  any  marked  results.  Efforts  in  the  cause  were 
not,  however,  wholly  given  up.  The  whiskey  element 
having  attained  the  ascendency  in  city  politics,  a propo- 
sition was  made  in  the  City  Council  to  repeal  the  Sun- 
day saloon-closing  ordinance.  This  aroused  the  whole 
body  of  women  who  were  at  all  interested  in  the  tem- 
perance cause  ; and,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  15th  of 
March,  five  hundred  of  them  met  at  the  Clark  Street 
Methodist  church.  One  hundred  of  the  number  Avere 
appointed  a committee  to  present  to  the  Council  a re- 
monstrance, signed  by  sixteen  thousand  women  of  the 
city ; and  while  they  were  out  on  their  mission,  the  rest 
remained  in  the  church  to  pray.  On  their,  way  to  the 
City  Hall,  the  delegation  was  followed  by  a constantly 
increasing  crowd  of  men  and  boys,  which  became  almost 
a mob  before  they  reached  .the  doors  of  the  Council 
Chamber. 

The  ladies  were  allowed  to  come  in,  and  their  memo- 
rial placed  on  file  ; but  the  repeal  ordinance  was  passed, 
in  their  very  faces,  by  a vote  of  twenty-two  to  fourteen. 
Then  came  the  trying  ordeal.  The  defeated  ladies  rose 
to  depart,  headed  by  a posse  of  police,  who  strove  to 
break  a way  through  the  howling  and  groaning  mob, 
aaEo  assailed  them  as  they  passed  with  the  foulest  epi- 
thets. The  ladies,  who  were  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  the  most  respected  citizens,  hid  their  faces  in  their 
hands,  and  hurried  on  through  the  gantlet  of  filth.  A 
reporter  of  a morning  paper  thus  described  the  scene : — 

“But  when  the  open  air  was  gained,  the  situation  in 
no  wise  improved.  Egress  was  had  by  the  door  in  the 
rear  leading  to  the  alley  next  to  the  Grand  Pacific. 
Thousands  were  crammed  into  this  space  a howling 
menagerie.  The  police  cleared  the  sideAA'alk,  but  the 
crowd  lined  the  verge,  and  poured  a volley  of  blasphemy 
and  obscenity  at  the  procession  of  ladies.  When  La 


ITS  ASPECT  AJSTD  ITS  EEMEDY. 


471 


Salle  Street  was  reached,  other  thousands  were  awaiting 
their  approach,  and  these  howled  even  louder  than  those 
Avho  greeted  theta  in  the  alley.  The  noise  was  positively 
hideous ; and  this  hooting,  yelling,  blasphemous  moh, 
and  five  thousand  roughs,  the  very  offscourings  of  the 
saloons,  flanked  and  .followed  them  clear  to  the  door  of 
the  church.  Jostling  them  on  the  way ; spitting  tobacco 
juice  on  their  dresses ; pulling  at  their  chignons ; in 
some  cases  tripping  them  up ; knocking  off  the  hats  of  • 
their  escorts,  — brothers,  husbands,  or  sons,  — giving 
the  latter  kicks,  cuffs,  and  digs  in  the  ribs ; and  all  the 
while  the  hooting,  yelling,  howling  continued,  and  not 
infrequently  members  of  the  procession  would  sink  to 
the  ground,  swooning  from  very  fright.” 

The  Chicago  Times,  in  speaking  editorially  of  this  dis- 
graceful affair,  used  the  following  vigorous  language:  — 

“ The  onset  of  a howling  mob  of  ruffians  upon  a com- 
mittee of  respectable  ladies  that  visited  the  Council 
Chamber  last  Monday  niglit,  to  remonstrate  against  the 
repeal  of  the  Sunday  tippling  law,  cannot  be  character- 
ized in  the  terms  of  condemnation  that  it  deserves.  It 
was  the  most  vile  and  disgraceful  demonstration  of  the 
spirit  of  ruffianism  ever  witnessed  in  this  city.  Prob- 
ably not  another  city  in  any  civilized  country  on  the 
globe  has  ever  witnessed,  in  time  of  peace,  a perform- 
ance so  unspeakably  brutal.  An  invading  army  of  bar- 
barians, licensed  to  commit  any  manner  of  outlawry, 
could  hardly  have  exhibited  towards  a body  of  decent 
and  well-behaved  women  a more  disgusting  temper  of 
diabolism.  It  was  the  outspew  of  the  slums,  and  grog- 
geries,  and  brothels ; it  was  the  grand  army  of  pimps, 
loafers,  blacklegs,  thieves,  and  drunken  roughs,  mar- 
shalled to  defend  scoundrelism  and  indecency  against 
the  protest  of  virtue.  The  ruffianly  conduct  of  the  per- 
formers was  certainly' worthy  of  their  thoroughly  brutal- 


472 


INTEMPER  ANCB, 


It  would  be  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  an  ordi- 
nary volume,  to  give  anything  like  an  adequate  review 
of  the  woman’s  movement  in  half  of  the  towns  and  cities 
where  it  was  inaugurated.  And  the  story,  if  told,  would 
only  be  a repetition  of  the  same  features,  with  merely  a 
change  of  incidents  and  surroundings.  The  writer  has 
aimed  to  present,  as  briefly  as  possible,  an  outline  of  the 
work  in  the  most  prominent  cities,  and  in  the  smaller 
towns  in  Ohio,  where  the  movement  first  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  country.  Each  peculiar  phase  has  been 
described  but  once,  although  it  may  have  appeared  at 
many  of  the  points  referred  to.  The  full  history  of  this 
remarkable  temperance  revival  cannot  be  written  until 
the  movement  has  subsided,  and  time  enough  has  elapsed 
to  allay  the  excitement,  and  trace  out  the  main  influ- 
ences set  at  work  to  their  results.  The  two  following 
chapters  will  supplement  this  review  of  the  external  fea- 
tures of  the  movement  by  giving  some  insight  into  the 
spirit  and  purposes  of  those  most  actively  engaged  in  it. 


473 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

LICENSE  TS.  PROHIBITION.  ^ THE  PROHIBITIONISTS  TRY  TO  CAPTURE 
THE  woman’s  MOVEMENT.  — LICENSE  VIGOROUSLY  OPPOSED  BY  THE 
LADIES. — THE  FIRST  GRAND  CONVENTION  IN  COLUMBUS. — PROHI- 
BITION STATE  CONVENTION  AT  MT.  VERNON.  — SECOND  WOMAN’S 
CONVENTION.  — MASS  MEETINGS  IN  CINCINNATI  FOR  AND  AGAINST 
LICENSE.  — GRAND  WOMAN’S  ANTI-LICENSE  CONVENTION  IN  CINCIN- 
NATI. 


The  woman’s  movement  had.  not  proceeded  far  be- 
fore the  old  controversy  regarding  license  and  prohibi- 
tion was  renewed  with  fresh  interest.  The  prohibi- 
tionists, who  had  been  a steadily  increasing  political 
party  in  Ohio  for  .several  years,  made  an  early  attempt 
to  capture-  the  movement  and  appropriate  its  results. 
They  had  been  vainly  striving  for  years  to  accomplish 
by  law  what  the  women  were  now  doing  hy  moral  force. 
They  saw  the  important  bearing  of  the  new  reform 
upon  their  efforts,  and  promptly  came  forward  to  further 
the  cause  and  carry  it  in  their  arms.  This,  disposition 
was  apparent  in  the  first  convention,  at  Columbus,  where 
an  attempt  was  made  to  set  the  two  factions,  of  workers 
by  prayer  and  workers  by  legal  force,  by  the  ears;  The 
latter,  however,  claimed  to  be  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
gospel  method,  only  they  wanted  to  supplement  it  with 
a little  law.  They  were  anxious  to  hitch  on  the  praying 
movement  as  a powerful  auxiliary  to  their  struggling 
political  party. 

But  the  women  refused  to  form  any  entangling  al- 
liances. They  hoped  to  conq-uer  by  love,  and  not  by 


474 


rNTEMPERANCE, 


force  ; but  if  they  failed,  and  had  to  resort  to  harsher 
measures,  there  were  already  sufficient  laws  lying  idle 
on  the  statute-book  to  break  up  nine  tenths  of  the  saloons 
in  the  state,  if  once  carried  into  execution.  Whatever 
motives  or  feelings  may  have  been  developed  later  in  the 
progress  of  the  movement,  the  ladies,  in  its  early  stages, 
as  a rule,  never  thought  of  law,  or  politics,  or  woman’s 
rights.  They  worked  with  an  eye  single  to  the  sup- 
pression of  intemperance,  and  that  by  moral  means. 
As  to  the  right  of  women  to  vote,  and  of  the  state  to 
govern  individual  action  by  prohibiting  every  man  from 
selling  liquor,  the  ladies  paid  not  the  slightest  heed,  so 
that  they  were  not  easily  hitched  on  to  the  prohibition 
car.  Dio  Lewis,  when  asked  for  his  advice,  placed  him- 
self in  square  opposition  to  prohibition.  It  had  failed, 
he  said,  utterly,  in  Boston,  and  the  question  could  only 
work  mischief  if  introduced  at  that  stage  of  affairs  in 
the  woman’s  movement. 

The  question  of  license,  also,  soon  grew  into  promi- 
nence. But  whereas  the  ladies  generally  refused  to 
have  anj'thing  to  do  with  prohibition,  they  were  not  slow 
in  giving  emphatic  expression  to  their  sentiments  against 
license.  The  progress  of  the  controversy  on  these  points, 
however,  may  be  better  traced  by  a brief  review  of 
the  principal  mass  meetings  and  conventions  held,  pro 
and  con. 

The  first  general  convention  was  held  in  Columbus, 
Februai’y  24.  It  was  called  by  Dio  Lewis,  without  any 
reference  to  license  or  prohibition,  but  simply  as  a means 
of  interchanging  experiences  and  congratulations,  and 
establishing  a uniform  basis  of  operations  throughout 
tile  state,  where  the  movement  had  been  begun.  It  was 
held  in  the  City  Hall,  and  attended  by  not  less  than  fif- 
teen hundred  delegates,  most!}’'  women,  from  the  various  • 
fields  of  labor.  The  general  tone,  as  well  as  the  results 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDY.  475 

of  the  convention,  are  summed  up  in  the  following  plat- 
form, which  was  unanimously  adopted : — 

“ Resolved^  ■ That  the  success  of  the  Ohio  woman’s 
movement  in  behalf  of  the  temperance  reform  has  given 
ns  substantial  assurance  that  the  traffic  in  and  use  of  in- 
toxicating drinks  can  and  will  be  removed  from  the  state 
and  nation. 

“ Resolved,  That  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work  we 
rely  on  divine  assistance,  seemed  through  fervent,  per- 
sistent, and  importunate  prayers  to  Almighty  Grod,  of- 
fered in  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  hearts 
filled  with  love  for  souls. 

“ Resolved,  That  faithful  and  persistent  prayer  must, 
as  an  inevitable  result,  be  accompanied  by  efficient,  per- 
sonal, and  organized  work. 

“ Resolved,  That,  in  addition  to  contributions  of 
money,  generously  and  freely  given,  it  is  recommended 
to  the  men  aiding  in  the  woman’s  effort  to  suppress 
intemperance  in  our  communities,  and  to  the  women  who 
carry  on  the  work,  to  avoid  all  envy,  hatred,  malice,  and 
uncharitableness,  bitterness  of  speech,  and  denunciation 
of  the  men  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  ; to  cultivate 
their  acquaintance  and  kindly  feeling,  and  by  all  honor- 
able and  practicable  means  to  assist  them  to  change  from 
a business  injurious  to  society,  to  some  other  calling  re- 
munerate to  themselves  and  beneficial  to  the.  commu- 
nity. 

(Signed) 

Mrs.  E.  D.  Stewart,  Mrs.  M.  W.  Banes, 
Sarah  Pollard,  C.  M.  Nichols, 

Miss  Lizzie  T.  McFadden,  H.  S.  Fullerton, 

Mrs.  H.  J.  Sharp,  J.  M.  Richmond, 

Committee. 

Two  days  later,  the  regular  State  Convention  of  the 
Prohibition  Party  was  held  in  Mt.  Vernon.  Of  course 
the  woman’s  movement  formed  the  principal  subject  for 
consideration.  No  one  opposed  it,  but,  as  the  last  of  the 


476 


INTEMPEEANCE, 


following  resolutions  will  show,  they  were  not  willing 
to  leave  it  to  itself : — 

“ Whereas  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  consumption 
of  intoxicating  liquors  is  in  open  violation  of  the  law  of 
God,  and  antagonistic  to  the  moral,  social,  and  political 
well-being  of  society  ; and 

“ Whereas  the  Christian  women  of  Ohio  are  seeking  to 
eradicate  this  evil  by  the  instrumentality  of  prayer  to 
Almighty  God,  and  Christian,  womanly  entreaty  with 
liquor  sellers  against  their  destructive  traffic ; therefore, 

“ Resolved^  That  we,  as  delegates  to  the  State  Con- 
vention of  the  Prohibition  Party  of  Ohio,  in  convention 
assembled,  do  hereby  congratulate  the  noble  self-sacri- 
ficing women  of  Ohio  in  their  success,  and  assure  them 
of  our  sympathy  and  co-operation  with  them,  and  all 
other  agencies  of  the  temperance  reform. 

“ Resolved^  That  we  will  not  only  unite  our  prayers 
with  our  sisters  to  Almighty  God,  but  we  will  call  upon 
our  brothers  in  Ohio  to  assist  in  making  permanent  the 
benefits  of  this  moral  uprising  by  the  execution  of  law 
against  all  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic,  and  to  seek 
through  the  ballot-box  the  speedy  enactment  of  such 
prohibitory  laws  as  shall  exthpate  the  evil  of  intem- 
perance from  our  state. 

‘.‘S.  L.  Roberts.” 

The  following  letter  from  Dio  Lewis,  representing  the 
views  of  the  friends  of  the  woman’s  movement  gener- 
ally, was  received  with  the  most  severe  denunciations 
from  some  of  the  speakers  of  the  convention,  among 
whom  were  Dr.  Porter,  of  Columbus,  and  Rev.  John  Rus- 
sel, of  Miclfigan : — 

“ CoLUiiBUS,  February  24. 

“ To  the  President  of  the  Prohibitory  Convention 
at  Mt.  Vernon. 

“ I cannot  suppose  that  your  convention  will  take  any 
interest  in  my  opinion  about  prohibitory  law ; but  as  I 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KBMEDT. 


477 


have  been  at  work  for  some  time  with  all  my  heart  and 
strength  in  the  cause  of  temperance  in  your  great  com- 
monwealth, you  may,  perhaps,  permit  me  a word. 

“ In  my  humble  opinion  no  law  could  be  more  just, 
or  more  justifiable,  than  that  which  would  remove  the 
source  of  a large  part  of  all  our  poverty,  misery,  and  crime. 
The  prohibitory  liquor  law,  thoroughly  enforced,  would, 
I have  never  doubted,  contribute  more  to  the  wealth  of 
the  state,  and  the  welfare  of  society,  than  all  the  other 
laws  of  our  statutes  put  together.  But  if  this  law  be 
enacted  before  piiblic  sentiment  is  prepared  to  enforce 
it,  it  must  divert  the  attention  of  temperance  men  from 
the  vigorous  and  undivided  employment  of  those  moral 
influences  which  alone  can  give  development  and  power 
to  public  sentiment.  I affirm  that  its  influence  in  New 
England  has  been  disastrous  up  to  this  time. 

“ If  the  great  social  and  moral  revolution  now  in  prog- 
ress in  Southern  Ohio  is  not  disturbed,  but  encouraged, 
within  six  months  a prohibitory  liquor  law  could  be  as 
easily  enforced  in  this  state  as  the  law  against  theft. 

“ Will  not  the  convention  which  meets  in  Mt.  Vernon 
on  the  26th,  and  which  I believe  will  contain  a large 
number  of  the  truest  friends  of  temperance  in  the  state, 
give  a word  of  hearty  approval  of  the  ‘ Woman’s  Tem- 
perance Movement  ? ’ 

“ Trusting  the  convention  may  pardon  this  intrusion, 
I am,  sir,  and  gentlemen, 

“Your  obedient  servant, 

“ Dio  Lewis.” 

• On  the  17th  of  March,  another  State  Temperance 
Convention  assembled  in  Columbus.  But  it  was  a state 
convention  only  in  name.  There  was  no  necessity  for 
it ; and  the  call  was  so  ambiguously,  stated  that  when 
the  few  delegates  assembled  they  could  find  nothing  to 
engage  their  attention.  The  entire,  day  was  spent  in 
discussing  the  object  of  the  convenirion,  and  at  the  last 
moment  an  attempt  was  made  to  clear  up  the  muddle  by 
a series  of  resolutions ; but  they  were  tabled,  and  the 


478 


INTEMPERANCE, 


convention  adjourned  without  even  giving  its  reasons 
for  coming  together. 

The  most  important-  event,  and  one  which  brought 
the  matter  of  license  anew  before  the  people,  was 
an  immense  mass  meeting  in  favor  of  a well-regu- 
lated license  law,  held  at  Exposition  Hall,  Cincinnati, 
Saturday  evening,  March  28.  The  attendance  was  very 
large,  probably  reaching  upwards  of  five  thousand.  The 
larger  part  of  the  audience  was  composed  of  Germans, 
and  prominent  wholesale  and  retail  liquor  dealers,  who 
were  present  in  large  numbers.  There  were  also  many 
prominent  business  men  and  well-known  citizens  present^ 
who,  taken  together  with  the  high  character  of  the 
speakers,  gave  a tone  of  respectability  to  the  meeting. 
Speeches  were  made  by  Judge  Whitman,  Judge  Taft, 
Emil  Rothe,  Rev.  M.  Lilienthal,  George  F.  Davis,  S. 
A.  Kittredge,  James  H.  Laws,  and  O.  J.  Dodds.  The 
meeting  was  presided  over  by  George  F.  Davis,  a temper- 
ance man.  It  was  opened  by  praj-er,  and  mainly  con- 
fined to  arguments  in  favor  of  a “judicious  license  law  ” 
to  regulate  the  traffic  in  .liquors.  An  occasional  side 
thrust  was  directed  towards  Dio  Lewis ; but  in  the  main 
the  woman’s  movement  was  treated  with  respect.  The 
following  resolution,  which  was  adopted  without  ffisseut, 
has,  at  least,  the  merit  of  brevity.  It  was  the  text  upon 
which  half  a dozen  lengthy  speeches  were  made. 

“ Resolved,  that  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  a 
judicious  license  law  meets  the  wants  of  the  times,  and 
affords  the  best  solution  of  the  question  of  traffic  in  in- 
toxicating hquors.” 

Out  of  the  many  speeches  delivered  on  this  occasion, 
we  give  a few  brief  extracts  from  that  of  Judge  Al- 
phonso  Taft.  It  embraces,  substantially,  the  arguments 
used  by  all. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  KEMEDT. 


479 


“ If  men  are  permitted  to  drink,  some  men  must  be 
permitted  to  sell.  The  right  to  diinkand  the  right  to  sell 
go  together.  A*judicions  law  to  .regulate,  license, 
the  sale  of  liquors,  would  close  at  once  more  than  half 
of  the  drinking  places  in  Cincinnati,  and  at  the  same  time 
improve  the  character  of  those  which  should  remain.* 
It  would  limit  excesses,  and  to  a considerable  extent  re- 
store a respect  for  and  observance  of  the-  laws  on  the 
subject.' 

“ The  principle  of  imposing  a moral  guardianship,  by- 
law or  otherwise,  of  good  men  or  good  women  over  their 
fellow-citizens,  in  the  exercise  of  their  tastes  in-innocent 
things,  has  usually  provoked  rather  than  repressed  ex- 
cesses. Free  agency  is  a principle  of  God’s  moral  gov- 
ernment. All  attempts  by  men  to  defeat  the  fair  opera- 
tion of  that  principle  have  failed. 

“ I cannot  doubt  the  humane  and  religious  motives  of 
those  engaged  in  the  present  temperance  crusade  in  the 
city.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  they  are  not  quite  satis- 
fied with  God’s  plan  in  dealing  with  moral  subjects. 
His  plan  is  too  slow,  and  allows  too  much  libert}^  They 
would  have  a certain  fi.xed  control  delegated  to  good  men 
and  women  over  the  unwary  consciences  of  their  fellow- 
men.  One  effect  of  their  well-meant  zeal  is  to  punish 
the  innocent  and  excuse  the  guilty.  The  man  who 
drinks  to  excess  is  the  object  of  then’  complacency,  while 
the  rest  of  the  world  are  charged  with  the  guilt  of  his 
excesses.  This  is  not  a fair  distribution  of  human  re- 
sponsibility^  . • ' 

“ Signing  a pledge  I regard  as  useless,  and  it  tends 
to  depreciate  a mail’s  self-respect.  As  a motive  it  has 
no  meaning.  To  do  or  not  to  do  a thing  which  concerns 
one’s  self,  for  no  better  reason  than  that  he  has  promised 


480 


IKTEMPEEANCE, 


to  himself,  or  to  persons  who  have  no  right  to  exact  such 
a promise,  is  trifling  with  his  own  independence.  If  a 
thing  ought  not  to  -be  done,  stop  ddhig  it.  A promise 
or  a pledge  makes  it  neither  better  nor  worse. 

“ It  is  an  objectionable  feature  of  the  present  crusade 
that  it  intrudes  religious  observances  upon  those  who  do 
not  ask  them.  Prayer  for  or  with  those  who  desire  it 
is  commendable  ; but  when  forced  upon  the  unwilling  it 
is  a mockery  of  God,  as  weU  as  of  the  victims  on  whom 
it  is  forced.”  ■ 

This  mass  meeting  of  course  created  a necessity  for 
another  bf  an  opposite  nature.  ‘ The  anti-license  portion 
of  the  community  felt  called  upon  to  make  its  voice 
heard.  The  license  men  had  provided  able  speakers  to 
sustain  their  views,  and  turned  out  an  immense  crowd  to 
hear  them ; yet  there  were  numbers  and  eloquence  on 
the  other  side  which  only  needed  an  opportunity  for 
public  • expression,  to  make  their  influence  felt.  The 
meeting  was  called  for  Thursday  night,  April  9,  in  Pike’s 
Opera  House.  Meteorologically  considered,  it  proved  to 
be  the  worst  night  of  the  season.  A cold  rain  and  snow 
rendered  the  streets  almost  impassable  ; yet  the  building 
was  well  filled.  Friends  of  the  cause  turned  out  as  a 
religious  duty,  and  made  up  a large  and  enthusiastic  au- 
dience. Hon.  C.  W.  Rowland  presided,  and  he,  with 
the  Hon.  Will  Cumback  of  Indiana,  Hon.  E.  D.  Mans- 
field and  Rev.  Dr.  Walden,  made  the  speeches.  The 
stage  was  filled  with  prominent  gentlemen,  and  with  a 
choir  of  singers  backed  by  a full  brass  band. 

The  following  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously 
adopted,  gave  expression  to  the  sentiment  of  the  meet- 
ing: — 

“ Resolved,  That  what  society  acknowledges  alike  inju- 
rious and  dangerous  to 'its  interests  should  be  neither 
protected  nor  encouraged  by  law. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY, 


481 


’■'•Resolved,  therefore.  That  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors  should  not  be  licensed,  and  that  the  Constitution 
should  not  prevent  the  legislature  from  restraining, 
limiting,  or  suppressing  it. 

“ Resolved,  That  the  existing  laws,  or  others  that  the 
legislature  may  pass  to  diminish  or  suppress  the  evils  of 
this  traffic,  should  be  strictly  enforced  in  all  respects.” 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  argumentative  speeches 
was  that  of  the  venerable  E.  D.  Mansfield.  We  append 
two  or  three  of  the  concluding  paragraphs,  which  con- 
tain, in  a nutshell,  the  principal  reasons  why  most  Chris- 
tian people  are  found  on  the  anti-license  side. 

“ The  third  idea  is,  that  they  will  make  this  business 
respectable.  They  have  three  thousand  funnels  now,  in 
this  city,  to  run  the  liquor  out  of,  and  they  think  by  the 
license  system  they  can  reduce  the  three  thousand  fun- 
nels to  one  thousand  funnels.  But  do  you  think  there 
will  .one  drop  less  of  liquor  run  out  of  those  one 
thousand  than  out  of  the  three  thousand  now  ? Not  a bit 
of  it.  You  will  never  find  a brewer  or  a distiller  going 
to  any  public  meeting  to  reduce  his  own  business.  No 
common  sense  man  would  do  it.  The  thousand  funnels, 
if  they  are  reduced  down  to  a thousand,  will  run  more 
liquor  than  the  three  thousand.  . They  will  make  it  more 
respectable  — that  is,  by  enlarging  it,  they  think  it  will 
be  more  respectable.  How  respectable  an  aristocracy  of 
drinking-houses  would  be  ! [Laughter  and  applause.] 

“ Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a thing  in  regard  to 
drinking-houses  ? Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  an  aristoc- 
racy and  such  respectability?  [Laughter.]  Can  you 
conceive  of  such  an  idea  ? Now  I will  tell  you  what  it 
looks  like  to  me.  It  would  be  like  a gentleman  who 
finds  his  garden  full  of  snakes,  and  they  begin  to  multi- 
ply until  it  becomes  very  uncomfortable,  and  he  wonders 
what  he  Avill  do  with  them.  He  hardly  knows  what  to 


482 


IJrTEMPERAlTCE, 


do  ; but  at  last  a thought  seizes  him.  He  says,  ‘ I -wlII 
license  them ! ’ [Laughter.]  License  snakes  in  a gar- 
den ! And  for  what  reason  will  he  license  them  ? ‘ Why,’ 
he  says,  ‘ the  garter  snakes  will  all  be  killed,  and  all  the 
rattlesnakes  will  be  left.’  [Renewed  laughter.]  I never 
got  hold  of  such,  an  idea  as  these  people  got  when  they 
declare  they  are  going  to  kill  all  the  little  saloons,  and 
leave  the  big  ones  to  bite  and  poison  worse  than  ever. 

“ I knoAv  of  only  one  reason^why  there  should  be  a 
license  law.  It  will  put  some  money  into  the  treasury. 
But  what  sort  of  money  will  it  be  ? The  Anglo-Saxons, 
our  ancestors,  had  a compromise  with  every  crime,  upon 
which  every  one  of  them  could  be  paid  out.  Murder, 
suicide,  and  every  crime  could  be  paid  for  if  you  put  the 
price  high  enough.  Everything  of  the  kind  was  com- 
mitted and  paid  for.  Now,  if  we  go  on  and  license 
every  evil  in  society,  TVe  shall  be  just  where  they  were. 
We  shall  be  commuting  and  compromising  with  murder, 
suicide,  death,  and  ruin,  and  ever)’  dollar  that  goes  into 
the  treasury  will  groan  and  exclaim  as  its  victims  roll 
along  to  the  grave,  rattling  over  your  streets,  ‘ Murder, 
suicide,  paupers.’  Every  dollar  in  your  treasury  will 
tell  of  crime  commuted,  and  the  gro,ans  of  ruin  and 
destruction  will  go  up  to  the  God  of  Sabaoth,  who  hears 
and  loathes  all  crime.  [Great  applause.]  ” 

About  this  time  the  constitutional  convention,  which 
was  in  session  in  Cincinnati,  came  to  the  question  of 
license  or  no  license  in  the  new  constitution.  The 
division  of  the  members  on  the  matter  was  very  nearly 
equal ; those  from  the  country  districts  generally  oppos- 
ing, and  those  from  the  cities  generally  favoring,  license. 
The  question  presented  itself  in  various  forms  to  the 
convention,  and  is  not,  at  the  present  writing,  disposed 
of.  The  following  is  the  proposition  of  Judge  West, 
which  excited  much  discussion  both  in  temperance  and 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEMEDY.  483 

anti-temperance  circles.  It  is  designed  to  be  submitted 
as  a separate  article  to  the  electors,  for  ratification  or 
rejection,  and  if  ratified  to  stand  in  lieu  of  Article  XV. 
of  tbe  present  constitution. 

Section  1.  Except  in  compliance  with,  and  upon 
tbe  terms  and  conditions  prescribed  by  law,  no  person 
shall  traffic  in  or  sell  intoxicating  liquors  within  this 
state. 

• Sect.  2.  Laws  shall  be  passed  to  prevent  the  evils 
and  compensate  the  injuries  resulting  from  the  sale  or 
furnishing  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  from  the  intoxica- 
tion consequent  thereon. 

Sect.  3.  County  commissioners,  township  trustees, 
and  municipal  authorities,  shall  have  power  severally  to 
restrict  or  prohibit  the  traffic  in,  and  sale  of,  intoxicating 
liquors  within  their  respective  jurisdiction,  and  to  impose 
thereon  terms  and  conditions  other  than  and  in  addition 
to  those  prescribed  by  law. 

Sect.  4.  Nothing  in  this  constitution  shall  be  con- 
strued as  denying  to  the  General  Assembly  the  power  to 
restrict  or  prohibit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  or  to  regulate  the  same  in  any  manner  not 
consistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  this  matter,  in  the  new 
constitution,  a call  was  issued  for  a third  grand  conven- 
tion of  the  Women’s  Temperance  Leagues  of  Ohio,  to 
give  an  emphatic  expression  of  opinion  on  the  license 
question.  The  convention  met  on  the  22d  of  April, 
and  was  the  largest  and  most  important  of  the  series. 
The  extent  to  which  the  organized  temperance  move- 
ment had  now  spread  in  the  state,  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  one  hundred  and  forty-one  different  leagues, 
in  seventy-three  different  counties,  were  represented  by 
delegates.  The  Ninth  Street  Baptist  church  — the  place 
appointed  for  meeting  — proved  entirely  inadequate  in 
size,  .and  the  convention  adjourned  to  Wesley  chapel, 
— the  largest  church  audience-room  in  the  city,  and 


484 


INTEMPEEA2TCB, 


capable  of  bolding  over  two  thousand  people.  During 
the  whole  of  the  sessions  of  the  convention  this  church 
was  crowded — sometimes  almost  to  suffocation. 

The  first  subject  for  consideration,  after  the  body  was 
organized,  was,  of  course,  the  license  question.  A com- 
mittee was  appointed,  consisting  of  one  from  each  county 
in  the  state,  to  draft  a memorial  to  the  constitutional 
convention,  indicative  of  the  feeling  of  the  temperance 
people  of  Ohio  generally,  and  the  women’s  leagues  in 
particular.  After  deliberation,  the  committee  returned 
an  article  which  they  offered  as  a substitute  for  the 
proposed  article  in  the  constitution.  With  the  exception 
of  the  first  section,  it  was  substantial!}"  the  same  as  that 
submitted  by  Judge  West.  The  first  section,  however, 
provides  that  the  state  shall  not,  in  any  way,  license  the 
traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors. 

The  debate  which  followed  on  the  report  revealed  a 
great . unanimity  of  sentiment  against  license  in  any 
form  ; but  there  was.  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  best  manner  of  bringing  the  matter  before  the 
constitutional  convention.  But  the  report  was  finally 
adopted,  amid  great  enthusiasm,  and  a large  committee 
of  ladies  was  appointed  to  convey  the  memorial  to  the 
constitutional  convention,  where  it  was  received  and 
laid  on  the  tqble  for  future  consideration.  The  debate 
on  the  second  and  third  sections  of  the  article  was  inter- 
esting, as  showing  the  position  of  the  delegates  in  regard 
to  prohibition.  A few  of  the  most  radical  were  for  the 
complete  and  eternal  prohibition  of  the  traffic  by  state 
laws.  They  argued  that  it  made  no  difference  whether 
the  general  public  was  prepared  for  it  or  not ; it  was  the 
duty  of  every  temperance  man  to  declare  for  the  total 
annihilation  of  alcohol.  The  large  majority  of  the  con- 
vention, however,  and  those  of  the  most  sober  sense, 
believed  that  it  would  be  folly  to  demand  a prohibition 


4 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


485 


law  now,  when  the  public  sentiment  is  not  able  to  carry 
into  execution  the  laws  that  are  already  upon  the  statute- 
books.  In  other  words,  a little  law,  well  enforced, 
would  be  better  than  a sweeping  prohibitory  law,  which 
it  was  absurd  to  suppose  could  be  carried  out,  especially 
in  the  large  cities. 

Another  important,  but  somewhat  chimerical,  project 
before  the  con\*ention,  was  tliat  of  memorializing  Con- 
gress to  abolish  the  revenue  from  all  intoxicating  liquors, 
used  as  a beverage,  including  native  wines,  ale  and  beer, 
and  thus  withdraw  the  apparent  support  of  the  govern- 
ment from  the  traffic.  The  debate  was  continued  with 
great  skill  and  pertinacity  by  both  sides. 

“In  God’s  name,”  said  Mrs.  Weitzel,  of  Middletown, 
“let  us  not  recognize  by  law  the  great  evil ; let  us  wash 
our  hands  clean  of  participation  in  the  wrong,  if  we 
expect  a just  God  to  reward  our  labors  in  this  cause. 
Women  themselves  often,  very  often,  have  to  pay  this 
tax.  Their  husbands’  liquor  bills  are  sent  to  them  to 
pay  from  their  hard  earnings  at  the  needle  or  wash-tub. 
If  you  increase  the  tax,  you  increase  their  already  heavy 
burdens ; you  take  from  them  and  their  needy  children 
the  bread  from  their  mouths  and  clothing  from  their 
backs.” 

Another  speaker  wanted  the  convention  to  consider 
two  facts : — 

1.  That  Congress  has  no  power,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, to  authorize  the  manufacture  of  ardent  spirits,  or 
the  vending  of  them  in  the  different  states,  and  has  no 
power  to  prohibit  the  same. 

2.  That  many  men  have  large  amounts  of  money 
invested  in  the  liquor  business,  and  that  Congress  simply 
lays  its  hands  upon  the  property,  and  says  it  shall  pay  a 
certain  revenue.  This  lessens  the  profits  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  checks  the  sale.  If  Congress  lets  the  traffic 


4.86' 


INTEMPEEAITCE, 


alone,  it  would  simply  offer  a premium  to  and  facilitate 
this  nefarious  business,  He  thought  whiskey  should  he 
more  heavily  burdened  with  tax  than  any  other  kind  of 
property.  • 

The  subject  was  finally  referred  to  a committee,  who 
reported  in  favor  of  postponing  further  consideration  of 
the  matter  until  the  next  convention.  A compromise 
was,  however,  struck,  in  voting  to  ask  Congress  to  pro- 
hibit the  importation  of  intoxicating  liquors.  The 
remainder  of  the  time  of  the  convention  was  devoted  to 
hearing  brief  reports  from  delegates,  concerning  the  prog- 
ress of  the  work  in  their  several  districts.  They  generally 
indicated  no  abatement  of  interest  in  the  cause  through- 
out the  state,  but  a more  fixed  determination  to  shut  up 
the  saloons,  by  all  available  means  of  law  and  love. 
Allusions  to  the  former  method  were  more  frequent  than 
in  the  first  convention,  showing  that  the  gospel  plan  is, 
to  some  extent,  losing  its  distinctive  character. 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


487 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  WOMAN’S  MOVEMENT.  — 
BITTER  ARTICLES  AND  ABSURD  STORIES  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  GERMAN 
PAPERS.  — A SPECIMEN  OF  BEER  DRINKERS’  RESOLUTIONS.  — ATTI- 
TUDE OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  — ARCHBISHOP  'PURCELL’S  LETTER. A 

MANSFIELD  PRIEST’S  ANATHEMA.  — DR.  J.  G.  HOLLAND  IN  OPPOSI- 
TION, ETC;,  ETC. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters,  the  progress  of  the  -woman’s 
movement  has  been  viewed  mainly  from  the  orthodox 
temperance  stand-point.  The  intense  opposition  which 
it  excited  has  only  been  referred  to  incidentally,  in  the 
course  of  the  narrative.  The  character  of  this  opposi- 
tion, however,  is  in  some  cases  so  extraordinary  as  to 
render  a more  extended  notice  of  it  necessary  to  the 
completeness  of  this  history.  We  therefore  give  place 
to  a number  of  extracts  from  the  articles  and  speeches 
of  the  anti-temperance  press  and  orators. 

The  following  correct  translations  of  some  of  the 
articles  published  in  the  German  papers  of  Cincinnati 
appeared  in  .the  Cincinnati  Gazette.  The  movement  was 
first  treated  by  these  papers  in  a sarcastic  and  humorous 
way,  as  in  this  extract  from  an  early  editorial  in  the 
Volksfreund : — 

“ The  women’s  war  against  the  saloons,  in  the  various 
southern  counties  of  our  state,  is  still  in  full  bloom.  By 
companies  the  banded  ‘ water  virgins  ’ march  from  saloon 
to  saloon,  fall  upon  their  knees,  and  fight  ‘ King  Alco- 
hol ’ and  ‘ Emperor  Gambrinus  ’ with  singing  and  pray- 
ing, so  that  the  windows  rattle.  In  Greenfield,  Highland 
County,  they  boast  that  they  have  already  prayed  and 


488 


INTEMPERANCE, 


sung  down  eight  saloons  ; and  the  other  six  they  hope  to 
capture  soon.  Of  the  four  druggists,  two  have  signed 
the  pledge ; the  other  two,  as  most  incorrigible  sinners, 
continue  to  make  opposition,  but  will  undoubtedly  finally 
have  to  surrender.  A German  saloon  keeper,  by  the 
name  of  Hiens,  had  declared  his  willingness  to  sell  no 
more  whiskey,  and  to  restrict  himself  to  the  sale  of  beer 
and  ale.  But  to  such  a capitulation  the  managers,  with 
and  without  hoop  skirts,  will  not  consent ; they  demand 
an  unconditional  surrender  ; that  is,  to  water,  tea,  coffee, 
and  snuff.  The  temperance  law  they  do  not  for  the  pres- 
ent design  to  invoke,  but  will  endeavor  to  capture  peace- 
able citizens  by  labors  of  love  and  a glib  tongue.” 

But  the  “ labors  of  love  and  a glib  tongue  ” continued 
to  spread  and  achieve  such  great  results,  that  the  hu- 
morous was  changed  for  the  impartial  ancLphilosophical 
tone.  Witness  an  editorial  from  the  Volkshlatt : — 

“ The  temperance  movement  of  the  women  in  the 
interior  of  the  state  seems  not  yet  to  have  reached  its 
culminating  point,  but  continues  to  spread  to  other  lo- 
calities that  have,  up  to  this  time,  been  free  from  the' 
mania.  In  larger  cities,  like  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  To- 
ledo, Columbus,  Dayton,  &c.,  such  excesses,  of  course, 
would  be  impossible ; but  in  the  rural  districts,,  and 
smaller  towns  and  villages,  they  have  full  sweep,  and 
but  few  will  dare  to  think  of  resistance  or  opposition. 
Under  these  circumstances,  those  who  are  affected  there- 
by seem,  for  the  most  part,  to  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion to  let  the  storm  expend  its  fury.  Movements  of 
this  kind  are  usually  of  but  short  duration.  The  more 
violent  they  are  in  their  first  assault,  the  sooner  will  they 
come  to  an  end.  The  Know  Notliing  movement,  for 
instance,  which  in  1854  and  1855  bore  all  before  it,  and 
at  first  seemed  irresistible,  soon  afterwards  lost  itself  in 
the  sand,  without  leaving  a trace  behind.  The  present 


489 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 

woman’s  movement  is  evidently  destined  to  tlie  same 
fate,  for  the  excitement  and  strain  upon  all  the  powers 
are  too  great  to  be  of  long  duration.” 

The  movement  refusing  to  die  out,  in  accordance  with 
the  prediction  of  its  enemies,  the  beer-drinking  editors 
began  to  show  their  tempers.  The  Waechter  am  Erie, 
published  in  Cleveland,  relieved  itself  thus : — 

“ There  is,  in  our  view,  a distortion  and  ugliness  in 
this  whole  farce  which  is  disgusting  to  us,  and  seems  like 
a profanation  of  prayer ; for  in  reality  this  movement  to 
pray  away  the  drinking  saloons  is  nothing  else  than  a 
lynch  procedure.  Behind  the  psalm-singing  women 
stand  the  gentlemen  heroes  of  the  slipper ; and  gallants, 
too,  if  necessary,  adopt  other  measures,  if  the  soft,  pious 
cooing  should  prove  unavailing.  The  whole  offers  in 
the  tedious  winter  months  — and  insufferably  teciious  it 
is  in  such  nests  — a somewhat  exciting  and  amusing 
entertainment ; and  then  one  can  get  his  ‘ bitters  ’ anj’'- 
way  in  the  drug  store,  or  it  can  be  bought  from  one  or 
the . other  of  the  large  places  on  the  sly".  The  saloon 
keepers  are  not  to  be  blamed  if  they  retreat  from  these 
houndings.  .Who  can,  for  any  length  of  time,  b.ear  the 
howling,  and  this  folly  in  the  mask  of  morality  and  vir- 
tue? No;  more  annoying  than  a swarm  of  mosquitos, 
worse  than  a bed  full  of  bed-bugs,  is  such  a woman’s 
siege  ; and  in  some  places  they  have  made  the  thing  very 
comfortable  for  themselves  by.  planting  a movable  tab- 
ernacle, with  stove  and  chairs,  before  the  saloon,  in 
which  from  early  morning  till  late  at  night  ‘ the-  good 
work  ’ is  carried  on  in  the  most  comfortable  manner,  in- 
terchangeably with  tattle.  Think  of  the  condition-  of  a 
saloon  keeper  who  receives  a visit  of  this  kind.  Is  he 
not  in  a worse  case  than  a sensible  man  in  the  midst  of 
a swarm  of  fools  ? ” 

A correspondent  of  the  Vollcsfreund,  writing  from 
Portsmouth,  says,  — 


490 


INTEMrERA^rCB, 


“ Tlie  temperancists  here  are  beginning  to  be  the 
plague  of  the  land.  Not  content  with  howling  against 
all  devotees  of  the  spirituous  in  their  public  prayer  meet- 
ings, they  now  make  raids  upon  the  saloons,  and  by 
singing  pious  hymns  seek  to  induce  the  beer  and  whiskey 
sellers  to  leave  the  broad  road  of  vice,  and  to  close  their 
saloons.  Even  the  most  unyielding  and  determined 
must,  under  the  application  of  such  a moral  torture, 
eventually  become  tractable,  and  be  glad  to  dispose  of 
his  supply  of  whiskey  to  his  tormentors  for  a considera- 
tion. Thus  they  bought  of  a'  beer  saloon  keeper  of  this 
place,  ‘ Dutch  Michael,’  the  whole  stock  of  whiskey  he 
had  — about  four  gallons  — for  thirty  dollars,  and  then 
sprinkled  the  street  with  the  precious  stuff.  If  any  one 
takes  a drink  to  strengthen  his  stomach,  then  these  camel- 
swallo^^ers  and  gnat-strainers  set  up  a howl ; but  if  the 
city  treasury  is  robbed  of  the  insignificant  sum  of  ten 
thousand  dollars,  they  hold  their  tongues,  and  cover  the 
crime  with  the  mantle  of  Christian  charity.” 

But  still  the  praying  went  on,  and  the  saloons  melted, 
away  before  the  advancing  women,  like  the  frost  before 
the  sun.  Then  the  German  editors  began  to  get  mad  about 
it.  The  movement  was  always  referred  to  as  the  “ pray- 
er pest,”  and  the  tone  of  editorial  articles  was  some- 
what like  the  following,  which  was  published  in  Die 
Gegemvart,  of  Covington.  In  speaking  of  the  INIeth- 
odists,  whom  the  editor  holds  responsible  for  all  this  tem- 
perance agitation,  it  demands  that  they  should  all  he 
hung  to  lamp-posts,  and  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
for  the  following  reasons : — 

“ In  the  first  place  they  undermine  the  morals  of  the 
people.  They  furnish  more  rascals,  great  and  small, 
counterfeiters,  adulterers,  perjurers,  and  bank  swindlers, 
than  all  the  other  sects  put  together.  They  are  the 
founders  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  .the 


ITS  ASPECT  ANH  its  REMEDY. 


491 


principal  school  of  all  'gallows  birds  and  swindlers.  S. 
Colfax,  forifler  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the ' 
greatest  perjurer  and  scoundrel  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tur}^  is  a Methodist,  and  the  father  of  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association.  General  O.  O.  Howard,  Chief  of 
the  Freedmen’s  Bureau,  who  has  swindled  God  and  all 
the  world,  is  a Methodist.  The  suit  of  the ' Methodist 
Book  Concern  in  New  York,  which  it  took  years  to  de- 
cide, and  in  which  all  those  who  were  interested  wer^ 
convicted  of  perjury,  is  an  evidence  of  their  wickedness ; 
the  many  complaints  against  their  ministers -for  adultery, 
seduction,  and  other  crimes,  are  an  evidence  of  their  im- 
morality. We  could  furnish  evidences  by  the  thousand, 
if  we  had  the  room. 

“ Secondly,  they  trample  the  doctrines  of  Christ  under 
foot,  and  make  a mockery  of  prayer  and  religion.  They 
boast  to  the  world  that  they  believe  in  JeSus,  and  at  the 
same  time  they  fight  for  Satan  and  his  kingdom.  Christ, 
when  he  instituted  the  holy  supper,  took  the  cup  of 
wine,  drank  of  it  himself,  and  .gave  it  to  his  disciples  to 
drink,  saying,  ‘H'his  do  in  my  memory.’  The  Methodist 
church  of  America  resolved  dhat  they  woidd  -use  no  wine 
at  the  communion,  because  it  is  a sin.  Now,  we  ask  every 
sensible  man  whether  this  pack  prays  to  Him  who  said, 

‘ This  do  in  my  memory,’  or  whether  they  pray  to  him 
who  said  to  Christ,  ‘ All  this  glory  will  I give  thee  if 
thou  wilt  fall  doAvn  and  worship  me.’  The  answer  was, 
‘Depart  frotn  me,  Satan.’  We  say,  Methodist,  do  not 
name  the  name  of  Christ,  for  you^do  not  believe  on  him. 
We  pronounce  every  Methodist,  or  other  hypocrite  who 
says  that  wine  drinking  is  a sin,  and  at  the  same  time 
professes  to  believe  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  a mean,  sneak- 
ing liar  ; for  every  man  who  declares  that  the  commands 
and  doctrines  of  Christ  are  a sin,  is  a fool  and  an  ass,  if 
he  says  that  he  believes  in  Christ. 

. 30 


492 


INTEMPEEAJSrCE, 


“ And  now,  tliirdly,  the  greatest  crime  of  the  Meth- 
odists is  this : That  in  their  churches  they  Sdppt  resolu- 
tions that  are  inimical  to  the  hherties  of  the  people. 
They  send  hundreds  of  petitions  to  the  various  legisla- 
tive bodies,  as  Methodists,  in  order  to  pass  laws  accord- 
ing to  their  taste  and  for  their  benefit,  and  to  the  injury 
of  the  rest  of  the  people.  They  come  together  in  their 
churches,  and  conspire,  and  discuss,  and  resolve  how  they 
jnay  attack  the  property,  and  business,  and  the  lives  of 
their  fellow-men.  They  come  forth  from  their  churches 
in  troops,  and  interfere  with  the  business  of  our  country- 
men, . threaten  them  with  death,  and  deprive  tliem  of 
their  liberty.  They  pray  that  their  God  may  strike  the 
saloonists  and  their  families  dead.  (Very  Chiistian  — is 
it  not  ?)  ^ 

“ Is  this*  right?  is  it  Christian?  is  it  humane  or  citizen- 
like? We  say  no. 

“We  say  to  this  band.  Halt ! for  your  hour  has  come. 
Become  a man  and  a citizen,  or  you  must  be  destroyed. 
We  fed  the  South  with  powder  and  lead,  when  it  at- 
tacked the  rights  and  the  existence  of  this  country.  Just 
so  must  this  rabble  be  punished.  We  are  not  at  all  afraid 
to  write  against  this  band  because  a few  Germans  are  to 
be  found  among  them.  These  should  keep  away  from 
them,  or  leave  them  and  become  decent  men.  It  is  sad, 
but  true,  that  among  the.  German  iMethodists  there  are 
some  who  are  not  exactly  the  best  of  bretliren  ; but  then, 
they  may  yet  be  converted,  and  return  again  ?o  the  bosom 
of  humanity.  May  thp  light  shine  upon  you.” 

It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  the  tone  of  the  more  iufluen- 
tial  German  papers  in  Cincinnati  never  became  so  bitter 
as  the  above,  although  many  false  and  exceedingly  un- 
just statements  were  published.  The  following  is  a 
single  instance : After  the  ladies  had  been  engaged  for 
some  time  in  the  crusade  in  Cincinnati,  the  Yolksfreund 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY.  493 

one  morning  came  out  with  th^  charge  that  the  leader 
in  prayer  of  one  of  the  hands  was  seen  so  drunk  during 
one  of  the  services  that  she  could  scarcely  rise  from 
her  knees  when  the  prayer  was  ended,  and  reeled  away  , 
to  the  church  in  the  most  disgraceful  manner.  This 
seemed  too  grave  a charge  to  pass  over  in  silence,  and  a 
committee  of  gentlemen  was  appointed  to  Wait  on  Mr. 
Haacke,  the  editor  of  the  paper,  for  his  authority  and 
proofs.  He  refused  to  give  either,  but  repeated  the 
charge.  At  length  the  truth  of  the  matter  came  out. 
A ragged  and  dirty  Irish  woman  one  day  eame  stagger- 
ing into  the  circle  of  kneeling  women,  in  a state  of  in- 
toxication, knelt  with  them,  and  afterwards  followed 
them  to  the  church.  The  German  readers  of  the  Volks- 
fr.eund  never  got  the  benefit  of  the  correction,  and  to 
this  day  believe  that  one  of  the  leading  praying  women 
was  out  on  her  mission  too  drunk  to  walk  ! 

Another  absurd  story,  which  was  started  with  still  less 
foundation,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  women  engaged  in 
the  movement  were  paid  regularly  for  their  services,  at 
the  rate  of  threeklollars  a day.  It  was  in  vain  to  deny 
this  ridiculous  charge  to  any  of  the  less  intelligent  Ger- 
mans ; they  had  read  it  in  their  papers,  and  therefore  it 
was  gospel.  Admitting  the  truth  of  the  statement,  it 
would  have  been  an  expensive  campaign  for  somebody. 
Five  hundred  dollars  would  have  been  needed  every 
night  for  weeks  and  months  to  pay  off  the  bands  for 
their  venal  prayers  and  songs. 

Having  given  considerable  space  to  reports  of  tem- 
perance meetings,  it  might  be  of  interest  to  produce  a 
representative  of  another  class.  The  following  resolu- 
tions, adopted  by  a large  anti-temperance  mass  meeting 
held  at  Hamilton,  in  March,  show  the  sentiment  enter- 
tained by  the  beer  drinkers,  in  regard  to  the  woman’s 
movement : — , 


494 


rNTElMPEEAjrCE, 


. Resolved,  By  all  tl^e  German  citizens  of  Hamilton 
and  suburbs, — 

“ 1.  That  we  organize  in  order  that  we  may.be  better 
able,  after  deliberation,  to  cope  with  this  nuisance,  and 
that  we  adopt  such  lawful  measures  from  time' to  time  as 
are  necessary  to  secure  us  our  just  liberty  and  rights. 

• “ 2.  That  we  never  will  permit  that  our  religious  and 
social  liberties,  and  especially  the  latter,  be  infringed 
upon  or  taten  from  us  under  the  cloak  of  a religious 
movement,  by  which  religion  itself  is  only  disgraced 
and  mocked. 

“ 3.  That  under  temperance,  according  to  its  proper 
meaning  — ai^  expression  to  which,  with  many  other 
inisused  words,  its  true  meaning  ought  to  be  restored  — 
we  understand  moderation  in  the  use  of  spiritual  liquors, 
a matter  which  we  highly  appreciate,  and  whose  opposite, 
‘ drunkenness,’  we  dee^oly  clespise,  and  for  whose  abolish- 
ment we  are  ready  to  do  all  in  our  power,  'and  for  which 
we  shall  strive  with  all  our  influence. 

“ 4.  That  we  consider  the  movement  known  as  the 
women’s  whiske}^  war  an  unlawful  one,  and  that  a hypo- 
critical attack  is  made  by  it  upon  social  liberty,  and  a 
sacrilege  is  committed  upon  religious  exercises,  especially 
the  exercise  of  prayer,  which,  as  private  devotion,  was 
by  the  Founder  of  Christianity  himself  emphatically 
destined  not  to  take  place  at  the  street  corners,  but  in 
the  solitude  of  a closed  room.  To  term  it  in  short 
words,  we  can  call  it  nothing  but  lunacy,  and  a fanatical 
swindle. 

“ 5.  That  we  in  this  movement  recognize  a total  rev- 
olution of  the  Christian,  social  orders,  by  which  the  nthn 
is  the  head  of  the  woman,  and  not  the  opposite.  We 
recognize  in  it  an  aberration  of  the  women  from  God’s 
destined  path  of  duty  in  which  man  and  woman  can  be 
satisfied,  and  that  they  ought  to  consider  that  Christianity 
first  raised  the  woman  to  an  equal  being  with  the  man, 
but  surely  not  to  the  end  that  man  should  become  the 
slave  of  their  notions  and  imbecile  ideas. 

“ 6.  That  we,  as  citizens  of  German  descent,  without 
difference  as  to  religion,  will  use  every  means  hi  our 
power  to  secure  and  hold  for  ourselves  the  liberties  which 
the  Constitution  grants.  * 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  BEMEDY. 


495 


“ 7.  That  we  look'  upon  all  advocates  of  the  move- 
ment as  enemies  to.  religion  and  social  liberty. 

“ 8.  That  we  will  give  no  candidate,  be  it  for  state, 
county,  or  city  office,  our  support  or  vote  who  takes  part  . 
in  the  movement. 

“ 9.  That  these  resolutions  shall  stand  and  be  carried 
into  effect  as  long  as  the  now  raging  temperance  mania 
exists,  and  until ^hese  imbecile  women,  as  we  wish,  for 
their  own  good,  may  soon  prove  the  case,  become  sensi- 
ble again,  and  are  prepared  to  return  to  their  own  re- 
spective duties. 

“ A saloon  keeper  in  Seven  Mile  will  apply  to-morrow, 
through  Van  Derbeer  & Symmes,  for  an  injunction 
against  temperance  visitation  in  that  village.” 

Reference  has  once  or  twice  been  made  to  the  attitude 
of  the  Catholics  on  this  question  of  women  praying  down 
the  evils  of  intemperance.  In  some  toAvns  the  Catholic 
priest  came  out  decidedly  for  it ; in  others  he  was  favor- 
ably inclined,  but  afraid  of  the  consequences  of  his 
espousing  the  cause.  Generally,  Imwever,  the  move- 
ment met  with  determined  opposition  from  the  authori-^ 
ties  in  the  Catholic  church.  Archbishop  Purcell,  whose 
word  is  law  in  Catholic  circles,  Avas  early  appealed  to  to 
define  his  position  in  the  matter,  which  he  did  in  the 
folloAving  letter  : — 

“ St.  Paul,  in  his  instructions  to  the  Romans,  and 
through  them,  to  all  Christians,  advises  them  ‘ not  to  be 
more  wise  than  it  behooveth  to  be  Avise,  but  to  be  wise 
unto  sobriety.’  Rom.  xii.  3. 

“ The  undersigned  takes  this  occasion  to  answer  the. 
numerous  applications  made  to  him  for  sympathy  and  co- 
operafion  in  the  crusade  against  intemperance. 

“ He  does  not  noAv,  for  the  first  time",  express  publicly 
his  sj^mpathy  Avith  the  object,  if  not  AAdth  the  means 
adopted  by  the  crusaders,  or  his  readiness  to  co-operate  • 
with  every  legitimate  and  wise  effort  for  the  suppression 
of  intemperance.  Scarcely  has  he  ever  had  the  spiritual 


496 


INTEMPERANCB, 


care  of  a congregation,  as  priest  or  bishop,  without  warn- 
ing those  who  heard  him  of  the  temporal  and  eternal 
evils  resulting  from  excess.  In  sermons  and  pastoral 
letters  he  has  insisted  on  the  necessity  and  exhorted  to 
the  observance  of  holy  temperance,  going  so  far  in  one 
of  those  let.ters,  many  years  ago,  gs  to  express  the  wish 
that  not  one  of  his  flock  were  a low,  disrepirtable  saloon 
keeper.  For  ten  years  he  practised  total  abstinence, 
hoping,  by  example,  to  induce  those#whom  his  words 
reached  not,  to  shun  the  vice  that  leads  to  every  other 
vice.  He  is  even  now  totally  abstinent.  This  he  con- 
siders pretty  good  ; but  he  cannot  go  to  the  excess  sug- 
gested by  some  of  the  lady  league.  He  cannot  instruct 
or  preach  that  it  is  a sin  for  a day  laborer,  who  has  to 
carry  the  hod,  on  a broiling  hot  day  in  July  or  August, 
up  a steep  ladder  to  the  third  or  fourth  story  of  a build- 
ing, to  restore  his  exhausted  strength  b3'-  a glass  or  two 
.of  beer.  This  he  would  consider  cruel.  If  the  toiler 
has  the  physical  endurance  and  the  will  to  do  without 
the  beverage,  in  the  name  of  God  let  him  do  it.  And 
if  he  cannot  take  this  refreshment  without  drinking  to 
excess,  let  him  abstain  altogether,  or  quit  the  hard  work, 
or  die  — for  it  is  be'tter  so  than  to  be  a drunkard. 

• “ Again,  the  archbishop  cannot  ask  a clergyman  to 

blaspheme  the  divine  Author  of  our  religion  bj*  asking 
him  Avhy  he  made  wine  at  Cana,  in  Galilee,  to  recreate 
guests  at  a wedding.'  Why  lie  instituted  the  Eucharist, 
the  Lord’s  Supper,  partly  in  wine,  of  ivliich  he  com- 
manded the  apostles  to  drink.  Why  Jehovah’s  Holy 
Spirit  teaches  us  in  the  Bible  that  God  made  ‘ wine  to 
cheer  the  heart  of  man.’  Psalms  ciii.  13.  And  the  vine 
to  ask  why  it  should  desert  its  ‘ wine  that  cheereth  God 
and  men.’  Judges  ix.  13.  Wh}-  did  the  d3*iug  patriarch, 
under  the  influence  of  divine  insphation,  wish  his  son 
‘ abundance  of  wine  ? ’ Wh3^,  again,  does  the  Hol3'  Ghost 
tell  us  that  it  is  ‘ hurtful  alwa3’s  to  drink  water,  or  wine, 
but  to  mix  them  is  pleasant,  or  sometimes  to  drink  one 
and  sometimes  the  other  ’ ? 2 Mccb.,  last  verse  of  the 

^ Old  Testament. 

“ But  God,  they  object,  did  not  make  the  wine.  We 
have  shown  that  he  did  make  it.  Neither  did  he  make 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 


497 


the  bread,  except  in  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  in  the 
desert.  But  he  made  the  grape  and  the  wheat,  from 
which  wine  and  bread  are  made,  the  one  by  a process 
not  much  simpler  than  the  other.  Catholics,  then,  go  to 
the  Bible,  and  they  understand  it  ; and  with  the  .blessed 
Book  before  them,  we  cannot  with  bell,  book,  and  can- 
dle, with  praying  and  psalm-singing  in  the  mud,  -excom- 
municate those  who  drink,  or  those  who  dispense  the 
liquid  which'  God  has  made  to  be  used  with  moderation 
and  thanksgiving.  This,  then,  is  the  verdict  of  the  Word 
of  God : Use,  do  not  abuse  ; and  if  you  cannot  use  with- 
out abusing,  use  not  at  all. 

“ Some  few  years  past,  three  or  four  Protestant  clergy- 
men called  on  the  archbishop  to  ask  his  co-operation  in 
an  attempt  to  abate  the  nuisance  of  the  grog-shojDS.  He 
told  them  that  when  thea’e  was  the  question  of  the  li- 
^censing,  or  absolute  prohibiting,  of  the  sale  of  inebriating 
liquors,  he  earnestly  recommended,  the  imposing  of  as 
heavy  a fine,  or  license,  on  the  venders  of  such  liquid  as 
they  could  bear,  and  inexorably  to  close,  by  all  the  pen- 
alties known  to  the  law,  those  vile'  bar-rooms  where  bad 
liquor  is  sold  to  minors,  drunkards,  men  or  women,  who 
are  now  the  pests  of  the  community,  a disgrace  to  their 
families,  and  teaching  by  word  and  example  the  broad 
way  to  perdition.  This,  he  conceived,  would  be  the 
most  effectual  check  to  the  evil  we  deplore.  It  would 
diminish,  perhaps,  by  two  thousand  the  three  thousand 
‘ spiracida  ditis,’  those  craters  of  hell,  by  which  our  city 
is  in  peril  of  combustion  ; and  it  woudl  pay  the  city 
much,  if  not  all,  the  expense  of  the  workhouse  and  other 
institutions  which  honest  and  sober  citizens  are  now 
shamiefully  taxed  to  support. 

“All  which  is  resjpectfully  submitted  to  all  whom  it 
may  concern.  fJ.  B.  Purcell, 

“ Archbishop'  of  Cincinnati. 

This  letter  was  *ably  replied  to  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland. 
We  quote  one  or  two  brief  extracts-:  — 

“ Besides,  would  it  not  be  well  for  us  to  remember- 
the  women  who  engage  in  this  crusade  are  working  in 


498 


INTEjSIPEEAirCE, 


the  only  way  that  Providence  has  left  open  to  them  ? 
Who  are  they?  They  are  the  mothers,  wives,  sisters, 
and  daughters  of  men  whom  they  have  seen,  year  after 
year,  dropping  into  the  graves  of  drunkards.  They  have 
suffered  worse  than  death  that  the  rum  seller  might  hve. 
They  have  seen  their  loved  ones  become  sots,  idiots, 
madmen.  They  have  seen  their  fortunes  squandered ; 
they  have  found  themselves  disgraced ; they  have  been 
cursed,  beaten,  bruised ; they  have  seen  their  peaceful 
and  happy  homes  turned  into  places  of  fear  and  torment. 
Boys  that  were  nursed  on  the  bosoms  of  some  of  them 
have  been  transformed  by  drink,  into  fiends.  Men  whose 
kiss  of  love  and  loyalty  honored  them  with  wifehood, 
have  degenerated  into  beasts.  For  these,  through  weary, 
suffering  years,  th6y  have  prayed.  Nay,  they  have  knelt 
with  them,  and  held  up  their  weak  *and  imbecile  hands 
while  they  prayed  for  themselves.  Day  after  day  they, 
have  done  this,  as  . men  have  gone  to  their  business 
through  temptations  that  beset  their  path  at  every  cor- 
ner, and  have  received  them  at  night  only  to  cover  them 
from  sight  A^dth  shame,  and  sink  back  into  their  old 
despair.  The  sorrows  through  which  these  women  have 
walked  have  been  simply  immeasurable.  No  words  of 
mine  can  describe  them  ; no  words  of.  any  man  can  ex- 
aggerate them. 

“ They  have  looked  to’  the  leaders  of  the  church  for 
help  ; have  they  had  it  ? They  have  looked  to  the  politi- 
cians for  help  ; have  the}'  received  it  ? They  have  asked 
for  laAvs,  whicli^were  easily  made  to  satisfy  their  clamor  : 
have  the3^*lDeen  executed?  The}' have  been  pure  and 
abstinent  tliemselves ; has  their  example  been  of  any 
avail  ? They  have  pleaded  with  all  the  eloquenoe  _of 
love  with  those  who  have  broken  their  vows  to  cherish 
and  protect  them,  to  forsake  their  vice,  and  have  re- 
ceived only  cuVses  or  promises  not  worth  a straw.  What, 
in  God’s  dear  name,  was  there  left  for  them  to  do,  but 
just  what  they  are  doing,  and  what  you  condemn  ? W^ho 
have  driven  these  women  to  this  great  necessity  ? Who 
have  forced  them  into  a position  from  which  all  their 
•natural  instincts  dissuade  them?  Who  have  made  their 
crusade  absolutely  necessary,  in  order  to  save  the  men 
of  the  present  generation  from  going  to  ruin  ? IMen, 


ITS  ASPECT  AND  ITS  EEIVIEDY.  ' 499 

and  men  of  influence,  with  shame  be  it  said  ! If  the 
leaders  of  the  Christian’ church  had  done  their  duty,  and 
the  leaders  of  state  and  national  politics  had  done  theirs, 
‘there  would  not  be  a dram  shop  to-day  between  Canada 
and  the  Gulf.  The  whole  business  has  thus  been  left  to 
God  and  the  women  ; and  the  latter  are  praying  in  the 
churches  and  in  the  street,  and  pushing  on  their  divine 
and  peaceful  crusade,  because  the  men  of  America  have 
failed  to  do  their  duty.  Shall  a Christian  man,  in  high 
station  or  low,  hft  his  voice  against  them?.  Rather  let 
him  hide  his  head  in  shame  and  self-contempt. 

“ You  say  that  you,  or  those  for  whom  you  speak,  can- 
not, ‘ with  bell,  book,  and  candle,  with  jDraying  and  psalm- 
singing in  the  mud,  excommunicate  those  who  drink,  or 
those  who  dispense  the  liquid  which  God  has  made  to  be 
used  with  moderation  and  thanksgiving.’  "VYhat  is  this 
liquid  ? Is  it  wine  ? That  is  the  liquid  you  talk  about ; 
that  is  the  liquid  the  drinking  of  which  you  find  justi- 
fied in  the  Bible.  But  whiskey  is  not  wine.  Whiskey 
is  the  liquid  that  burns  up  stomach,  brains,  morality, 
industry,  prosperity,  life.  Whiskey  fills  a hundred  thou- 
sand homes  with  misery,  and  is  poisoning  the  blood  of 
the  generations.'  Whiskey  fills  the  poorhouses,  and  hos- 
pitals, and  prisons.  Whiskey  is  associated  with  nearly 
every  crime  committed  in  your  community.  It  is  the 
grandf  fiery  fountain  of  the  national  woe  and  crime. 
This  is-  what  the  women  of  Ohio  are  seeking  to  banish  ; 
and  they  know  that  with  it  must  go  that  which  all  the 
national  experience  has  proved  will  be  used  as  a_  cover 
for  the  baser  liquid.” 

But  while  men  of  high  position  and  great  influence 
were  carrying  on  the  discussion  with  courtesy  and  mod- 
eration, some  of  the  smaller  fish  strung  together  a series 
of  bitter  denunciations,  and  imagined  they  had  thereby 
settled  the  question  forever.  The  following  short  ex- 
tract from  an  open  letter  by  the  Catholic  priest  of  the 
flourishing  city  - of  Mansfield,  Ohio,  deserves  a place 
among  the  literature  of  the  campaign,  as  a sample  of  its 
kind : — 


500  . 


miERIPEEAKCE, 


“ The  woman’s  temperance  movement  is  absurd  in  its 
nature,  in  its  concomitants,  in  its  advocates,  and  in  its  ef- 
forts. Neither  signing  a pledge  nor  the  screams  of  crazy 
women  will  help  so  much  as  to  make  one-man  temperate. 
Suppose  that  our  Mansfield  ladies  fill  with  their  prayer- 
ful screams,  and  then  ‘ Come  to  Jesus,’  and  their  glorys, 
and  their  amens,  our  narrow  Main  Street.  How  many 
of  the  saloon  keepers  and  their  visitors  will  be  moved  to 
pledge  themselves  in  sincerity  to  abstain?  Will  they 
call  upon  the  professional  drunkard,  or  upon  those  who 
use  with  reason  of  beer  and  wine  ? The  first  class  will 
be  as  much  moved  as  Balaam’s  ass  to  pass  the  narroAV 
gate.  The  second  class  will  look  upon  you  as  a set  of 
bigots  and  lunatics,  and  with  great  reason  ; for  how  do 
you  dare  to  call  upon  men  to  abstain  from  what  they  do 
not  abuse,  and  use  with  reasonable  moderation  or  tem- 
perance? To  tr}- to  deprive  others  of  their  rights  is 
nothing  else  than  despotism  and  Puritanism,  which  seems 
to  be  a boon  Ohio  has  inherited  from  the.New  England 
States. 

“ This  is  Pharisaism,  Puritanism,  h}'pocrisy,  pure 
sectarianism,  intolerance  in  the  name  of  a false  God, 
whom  the  reformation  and  its  ignoble  upholders,  the 
preachers  are  setting  on  their  self-fabricated  altars,  and 
whom  everybody  should  adore  or  perish. 

“A.  MAGE^'HAX^\”. 

We  had  hoped  to  give  extracts  from  some  of  the  lead- 
ing speeches  of  the  campaign  in  opposition  to  the  move- 
ment,'including  the  disgraceful  one  delivered  b}*  Judge 
Safford  before  the  liquor  sellers  and  drinkers  of  Chilh- 
cothe  ; but  space  forbids.  Enough  opinions  of  represen- 
tative men  and  papers  have  been  cited  to  show  the 
animus  of  the  forces  arrayed  against  the  temperance 
cause.  It  is  onlj"  when  these  utterances,-  and  the  resist- 
ance which  they  provoked,  are  taken  into  account,  that 
the  grand  results  wliich  the  women  achieved  can  be 
properly  appreciated. 


S':-',  - . ■■■.  '•  ■ ' , 


i-  . 

V- 


'.”  t* 


'J 


